Missouri Life Insurance Quotes - A Guide to Life Insurance in Missouri (MO)
When trying to get to grips with Missouri Life Insurance Quotes it is important to consider a variety of options, and look at some of the specific requirements of life insurance in Missouri and what securing the right cover could mean for your family.
In this article I will be looking at Missouri Life Insurance both from the perspective of consumers, and also in a bigger picture sense of the importance of life insurance for the Missouri economy as a whole.
I will begin by providing a little background information on the state of Missouri. (If you want to get some Missouri Life Insurance Quotes right now then put your zip code in the box above and hit "Start").
Missouri – A Little Background…
Missouri has a population of 5,988,927 according to the 2010 US Census, which ranks it as the 18th most populated in the union. It sits in the mid-west of the United States and has a land area of 69,704 square meters (approximately 240 miles wide by 300 miles long).
It’s population density was 86.9 in 2009, which is the closest figure to the 86.8 National average of any of the states.
Like all States in the US it has a whole host of nicknames by which it is fondly known by its residents, both officially and unofficially. Currently the one used on vehicle licence plates in Missouri is the Show-Me State, but other unofficial ones down the years have included: Bellwether State, Bullion State, Sleepy State, Ozark State, Gateway State and The Puke State (a name reported in the Grand Traverse Herald in 1881, a popular Michigan newspaper of the time).
Missouri has borders with eight other states, and hence truly was a “Gateway State” for early pioneers travelling across the United States to other parts.
The largest city in Missouri is Kansas City which had a city population of 459,787 and a metropolitan population of 2.2 million in 2010.
The official nickname of Kansas City is ‘The City of Fountains’, as the city has over 200 of them, and claims to only be behind Rome in terms of the number it has! It is also a very green place to live, having 214 parks, and the largest, Swoon Park, being 1,805 acres large, making it twice as large as Central Park in New York.
The Capital of Missouri is Jefferson City, which is home to a city population of 40,771 and a metropolitan population of 140,052. The city is named after the 3rd President of the US, Thomas Jefferson, and has an imposing State Capitol Building with a domed roof which rises 238 feet into the air and a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson in the southern most entrance.
In terms of its economy, Missouri had a gross state product of $246.7 billion in 2010 (22nd highest in the US), but a median household income of only $45,395 in 2009 ((35th highest in the US); making the average Missouri household $4826 worse off than the rest of the country ($50,221 is the average household income across the whole of the United States).
Agricultural production, farming, aerospace, chemicals and beer are all big industries in Missouri.
Missouri Life Insurance – The Facts…
Like most other states, life insurance in Missouri is big business. There are 508 Missouri Life Insurance Companies who are licensed to sell life insurance in Missouri, and twenty-six of these are actually domiciled in the state.
This translates into over 16,000 people who are directly employed by a Missouri Life Insurance Company, and an additional 20,000 non-insurance jobs which are supported by the life insurance industry in Missouri through finance, mortgages, farm loans and the like.
In total, the residents of Missouri have death benefit cover that amounts to $510 billion, and there are over three million individual Missouri Life Insurance Policies in force in the state. On average, each policyholder has $92,000 of life cover.
Looking at the figures for 2009 for example, we can see that there was $30 billion of individual Missouri Life Insurance cover purchased, and that some $6 billion was paid out by the life insurance companies in Missouri in the way of policy dividends, death benefits and matured endowments.
So there are some very large amounts of money involved on both the state economy level, and also the level of the individual Missouri consumer.
This is also illustrated by the fact that about $65 billion of the Missouri Life Insurance Companies assets are invested in the state in the form of stocks and bonds, farm loan mortgages, real estate and business development projects.
What Are The Most Common Complaints About Insurance Companies In the US?
Before we dig into some of the specifics about what you should be looking for in your Missouri Life Insurance, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the Top Ten Complaints that Consumers had in the United States about their insurance company.
Clearly this is not purely on the shoulders of the life insurance industry in Missouri! But it should hopefully help to educate a little about some of the different factors that can go wrong, so that you are forewarned, and hence can ask more intelligent questions of your life insurance company before buying any Missouri Life Cover, or proceeding to purchase after getting a Missouri Life Insurance Quote that seems to fit your needs.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has actually been compiling a list of consumer complaints for some years, and as these are technical terms that the industry itself chooses, it means that you can specifically ASK any prospective insurer how they compare.
The Top Ten Reasons for Complaints About Insurance Cover in the United States in 2010
Reason for Complaint
1/ Claim Handling – Delays
2/ Claim Handling – Denial of Claim
3/ Claim Handling – Unsatisfactory Settlement/Offer
4/ Claim Handling – State Specific
5/ Underwriting – Cancellation
6/ Underwriting – Premium and Rating
7/ Policyholder Service – Premium Refund
8/ Policyholder Service – Premium Notice/Billing
9/ Policyholder Service – Coverage Question
10/ Policyholder Service – Delays/No Response
There are a number of striking things about this data.
Firstly, how Claim Handling is by far the biggest cause for complaints among consumers. In 2010 there were a total of 78,101 complaints about Insurance in the United States, and out of those 34,929 or 44.72% were complaints about how the claim was handled.
You will also see from the chart above that the top four reasons for complaints in 2010 were all related to claim handling.
This is important, because if you are looking to get insurance then it reinforces the need to research the company you choose to buy insurance from BEFORE you buy it!
The claim handling process by its very nature comes when you actually have the insurance and want to make a claim. So by that time complaining may make you feel better, but it is unlikely to get your claim settled.
The best way to proceed is to research how the insurance company you are thinking of buying a policy from performs, BEFORE you purchase any policy.
Get several quotes before buying and do your due diligence.
Secondly, that state specific reasons for complaint amounted to 6,300 out of the 78,101 insurance complaints in 2010, or 8.06%. So, approximately one in every twelve (and a half!) complaints were for reasons that were specific to the state in which that insurance was held.
This is important, because it emphasises that you really should check out if there are any state specific legislation or nuances for each different type of insurance you are considering purchasing.
So, be sure to check out our other state specific guides for other types of insurance (in addition to the Missouri Life Insurance you are looking to get).
Thirdly, there are actually fewer complaints about life insurance then virtually any other type of insurance! Out of the 78,101 insurance complaints in 2010, only 6,334 or 8.11% were related to either Life Insurance or Annuities (which are counted together). With the vast majority (over 70% of the total) being for Accident and Health Insurance (39.83% of the total) and Auto Insurance (35.71% of the total).
So, the statistics tell us that there is far less to be worried about if you are a consumer seeking Missouri Life Insurance, rather than say Missouri Health Insurance, or Missouri Auto Insurance.
How To Get Great Missouri Life Insurance Cover…
How then can you get great Missouri Life Insurance Cover that is right for you, and that has the features that you need?
Here is a three step process to getting great life cover in Missouri:
1/ Get Serious – Do Some Sums!
With life insurance it is first important to assess future consequences of you not being around. And this extends both from immediate concerns that your dependants might have such as meeting funeral expenses and pressing bills, to more longer term financial obligations such as mortgage payments on your home, child care expenses, tuition fees for children and college expenses, as well as helping out projects or charities that you may have been actively involved with during your life.
The good thing about life insurance is that you can make a difference even if you are no longer around, and you can help out those people who you care about. But to do that you need to get serious whilst you are still around and set pen to paper and get down some specific numbers about what the financial realities would be if you weren’t around.
2/ Think About The Type Of Missouri Life Insurance You Need
There are several different variations on what life insurance could mean, but the main two types are:
Missouri Term Life Insurance – This is where there is a specific period of time (a term) set on how long you will have life insurance for. Typically this might be for a period of 20 years, and during that time you will have a specified amount of life cover. If you die during that time than that amount of death benefit would be paid out.
These policies can be very cheap when you are relatively young, but the costs will rise as you get older.
Missouri Whole Life Insurance – This differs from term life insurance in three major ways.
Firstly, it is cover for your whole life, rather than just a certain term.
Secondly, because of this it is much more expensive, particularly at the start of the policy if you compare it to the costs of term life insurance.
Thirdly, it will tend to have a savings or annuity element to it. So there is a possibility to cash it in at some stage and get some money back. However, you should note that this is very heavily weighted to the later years of the insurance. So if you cash it in in the first ten years you will, most likely, get very little back.
Which of these options you go for will depend on your current budget, your age, and how certain you to still have the same cover in 10 or 20 years’ time.
3/ Get Some Missouri Life Insurance Quotes
Once you have figured out how much life insurance you need, and the type of policy that you would like, then it is time to get some Missouri Life Insurance Quotes.
You can do that on this page by scrolling up to the top, where you can choose between a selection of the best life insurance companies in Missouri to get free quotes from.
Missouri Life Insurance – The Details…
In terms of insurance regulation in Missouri the legal structure that oversees this are taken from The State Insurance Code of Missouri.
You will find the Missouri Insurance Statutes that relate to life, Health and Accident Insurance here:
Whilst these are clearly a little heavy for your average Missouri consumer, they are nevertheless the basis for Life Insurance Regulation in Missouri, and so it is useful to know what the specific regulations are (just in case you end up being one of those 6,334 people who complained about their Life Insurance in the United States in 2010!)
Missouri Life Insurance Resources
Missouri Department of Insurance
It is the Missouri Department of Insurance which deals with implementing and overseeing the regulation of Life Insurance in Missouri.
They offer advice for both consumers and insurance companies and insurance agents in Missouri.
https://insurance.mo.gov/
Missouri Department of Insurance – Life Insurance Information
If your Missouri Life Insurance Company were to become insolvent, then it would be the Missouri Life and Health Insurance Association who would step in to assist policyholders.
