Idaho Life Insurance Quotes are now much easier than ever before to get, and it is now no longer necessary to visit an insurance broker in Boise to get a quote. The internet has opened up the world to the Gem State, and Idahoans can now get a life insurance quote from the comfort of their own homes. However, how do you go about getting the right deal? In this article I explore what you need to know about life insurance in Idaho.
A Little Background On Idaho...
There are 1,567,583 people in Idaho according to the 2010 Census, and it has emerged as an ultra-modern state with a gross state product in 2008 of $52.7 billion (up from $43.6 billion in 2004), and as a leading light in the science and technology sector, which now accounts for about 25% of Idaho’s total revenue.
It is also well known as a big agricultural producer, and almost a third of all the potatoes grown in the US come from Idaho.
Idaho Life Insurance - The Facts...
If we consider the insurance industry in Idaho then it very rapidly becomes clear that we are looking at a similarly massive business operation.
There are 451 insurance companies that sell life insurance in Idaho, although interestingly, only one is actually domiciled in the State (probably because other States such as Delaware have more favourable rules for business). But despite that there are over 2000 people who are directly employed by insurance companies in Idaho, and a further 2000 jobs that are supported by life insurance Idaho wide according to the American Council of Life Insurers.
Similarly, if we take a look at the overall levels of life cover in Idaho then we can gauge how important life insurance is a sector for growth to the Idaho economy.
In terms of the raw figures, Idahoans life insurance cover is extremely significant, with over a $100 billion in death benefit cover, and 510,000 individual Idaho life insurance policies in the State, and an average amount of cover of $140,000 per policyholder.
The Top Ten Life Insurance Companies In Idaho - By The Stats...
As of March 2011 here are a list of The Top Ten Life Insurance Companies in Idaho in terms of the amount of Individual Life Insurance they have written in Idaho (figures come from the Idaho Department of Insurance and are based on the amount of individual life business written in Idaho in 2008)
1/ Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 48,128,980
Market Share – 13.41%
2/ Beneficial Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 19,014,440
Market Share – 5.30%
3/ Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 15,056,690
Market Share – 4.19%
4/ State Farm Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 13,020,660
Market Share – 3.63%
5/ New York Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 10,995,210
Market Share – 3.06%
6/ Security Life of Denver Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 8,915,923
Market Share – 2.48%
7/ Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 8,633,286
Market Share – 2.41%
8/ John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A)
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 8,443,267
Market Share – 2.35%
9/ American General Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 7,176,675
Market Share – 2.00%
10/ Lincoln National Life Insurance Company
Direct Idaho Life Insurance Premium Written – 7,010,132
Market Share – 1.95%
So, we can see that over $146 million of individual life insurance was sold in 2008 by the top ten life insurance companies in Idaho, and that despite that there is a lot of depth in terms of the competition in the market.
The top ten life insurance companies in Idaho still only accounted for 40.79% of the market share. The other 59.21% was shared out by the rest, and over a million dollars of premiums was written by each of the next 55 different life insurance companies in Idaho. So it is clear that there is quite a deep amount of competition in the Idaho insurance market.
Why This Is Good News For You...
The good thing about a sector being so important and having so much money invested in it, is that this encourages the insurance companies in Idaho to be more inventive and innovative when it comes to the types of life cover that they offer. Life insurance may not intrinsically strike you as a sector where innovation could be used to benefit the consumer, but the reality is that often the devil is in the details with all types of insurance, and some life policies will pay out when others wouldn’t.
And because the market is so competitive, it means that innovations that result in more customers quickly get adopted by other life insurance companies in Idaho, and as a result the bar gets raised on the quality of life insurance Idaho wide.
One of the ways that this has materialised in recent years is through the distribution of information about our life insurance policies, and how they are sold to us. Most of us take the internet for granted, and it is now common practice to go online, get some Idaho Life Insurance Quotes and see what the range of prices and service are on offer.
But this was not the case at the backend of the 20th Century. Prior to the internet, getting life insurance could be a real hassle that would involve lengthy phone conversations, visiting insurance brokers (or having them visit you at home), and filling out lots of paperwork.
One of the recent innovations in the insurance industry across all the states in the US has been this improving in communication with consumers, and this extends well beyond simply getting quotes for insurance in Idaho. It has also changed the way that insurance companies communicate with customers once you have bought a policy.
They are now more aware than ever that people are constantly looking for the best deal, and that barriers to switching insurance companies that used to be in place no longer exist.
What this has meant is that life companies throughout the US have been upping their game in the last ten years when it comes to life insurance, and the customer support that you can expect to get post-sale is greater.
Of course, there is a downside to the computer revolution as it relates to life insurance in Idaho. Because there is also the tendency to want to automate frequently asked life insurance questions, and remove humans from the chain (because staff cost money) as well. But because the sector is so competitive, this does have the effect of mitigating this, because Idaho Life Insurance Companies are only too well aware that any customer is now only a couple of clicks of the mouse away from switching their life insurance to another company.
More Types of Life Insurance And More Innovation...
What you will also find is that hand-in-hand with traditional types of life insurance such as Idaho Term Life Insurance and Idaho Whole Life Insurance, that many companies are now segmenting their life insurance products to more closely match the needs of their customers. Hence you will now hear of products like “Family Life Insurance”, or ‘Children’s Life Insurance”, which are more specifically designed for much smaller segments of people, but which more closely match the type of life products that they really want to buy.
In practice, you should start off by getting some general Idaho Life Insurance Quotes so you can start to get a better idea of the typical prices that you might expect to pay for life insurance given your age, health circumstances, hobbies etc. And make sure to read the different terms and conditions very carefully, before you commit to anything.
You may find for example that certain life polices in Idaho are more lenient to certain occupations or health considerations, and so the right policy for someone else, may not necessarily be right for you.
And so it is worth considering several different potential life insurers in Idaho before finally settling on which policy you want to buy.
If you want to get immediate Idaho Life Insurance Quotes then you can do so at the top of this page.
Idaho Life Insurance – The Details
In terms of the regulatory environment that surrounds insurance in the State of Idaho, this is governed by The State Insurance Code of Idaho, a copy of which you can find online here.
This sets down a framework of laws that govern how insurance business is conducted in Idaho, and how Idaho Insurance Companies have to behave to consumers.
On the flip side of that is that it does also cover the obligations that Idahoans have to the Insurance companies, such as telling the truth on the insurance forms, paying the insurance premiums etc. And hence it is a two way street.
Idaho Life Insurance Resources
Idaho Department of Insurance
It is the Idaho Department of Insurance that handles insurance regulation in the State of Idaho, and which also acts to enforce the legal structure of the Idaho Insurance Code.
The Center for Insurance Policy and Research has a nice facility available to allow consumers to search for Insurance companies in their state for both complaints received against that company, and also for financial information about them.
With something like Idaho Life Insurance this is clearly a big deal, because you will essentially be wedded to the financial fortunes of that company for the rest of your life!
So it is a good idea to check up on the financial circumstances, and the amount of complaints received about them BEFORE you finally purchase your Idaho Life Policy.
Something that works great in conjunction with the above complaints search facility is the Idaho Insurance Company search facility that you can find on the Idaho Department of Insurance website here.
The way this works is that you can select by a ‘line of business’. So, for example, you could choose “Life – Individual”, or “Life – Group”, and it will then show you a list of the life insurance companies in Idaho currently doing business for that type of insurance and how many premiums they have written.
If you combine this with the Life Insurance Complaints search above, then you can get a really good feel for how particular life insurance companies in Idaho are treating their customers.
