Why U.S. Life Insurance? There are four very client oriented reasons for our concentrating principally on U.S. life products.
They are:
1. Better financial strength ratings of the carriers AEIB offers its clientele the products of highly rated U.S. life insurance companies. We select only from US life companies with at least a Standard & Poor’s Financial Strength rating of A (Strong), AA (Very Strong) or AAA (Extremely Strong). The U.S. life products distinguish themselves by having significant emphasis on the original reason for life insurance, that of protection. Even the products with an investment element have significant risk protection (up to at least 250% of the policy’s cash surrender value when the insured is age 40 or younger). To protect both the client’s assets, as well as covering their life risk, it is essential that we deal only with strong companies that can also provide substantial life covers and whose contracts contain an incontestable clause.
2. Product Design U.S. life insurance products offer death protection guaranteed to age 121 and thereby virtually assure that the death benefit will be paid to the named beneficiary.
3. Availability of substantial death covers Large and medium size U.S. life insurance companies, through their own capacity, or through that of their diversified reinsurance companies, offer substantial death covers for qualifying insured’s. For the larger companies it is not unusual to find that they can bind and issue individual life coverage for up to $40 and $50 million. AEIB has participated in the past in insuring very high net worth European residents for up to $56 million in individual death benefit for the purpose of covering an even larger European gift or inheritance tax risk. 4. Incontestability of US life policies By insurance statute in all states since the early 1900’s U.S. life companies must offer policies with an incontestable clause. This is a provision in the contract that, except for non-payment of premiums, waives the insurance company’s right to dispute a claim after the policy has been in force during the insured’s lifetime for two years from the date of issue.
We feel that it is absolutely essential for the peace of mind of both the insured and their beneficiary that they know that the death benefit claim will be honored without dispute or negotiation, after 24 months, as long as the claimant can provide acceptable evidence that the insured has deceased, even by suicide.
