Ohio Life Insurance is an important topic to consider if you are currently living in the state of Ohio, but haven’t yet got yourself covered by life insurance and are looking for some Ohio Life Insurance Quotes to get you started.
The nature of looking into getting competitive Ohio Life Insurance Quotes is that you need to consider a number of different factors before finally buying a policy. In this article I am going to explore some of those different factors, and tell you what you need to know as an Ohio resident looking to get the best possible life insurance cover.
To begin I am going to take a look at a little background information about Ohio so that we can get a better feel for the state and what it is about, and then we are going to move on from there with some specific details about the life insurance industry in Ohio, and what you need to think about before purchasing.
(If you would like to get some affordable quotes right now, then you can do so in the box above to get a list of specially recommended companies in your area we recommend for OH Life Insurance Quotes.)
Ohio – A Little Background…
Ohio is the 34th largest state in terms of physical size at 44,825 square meters (approximately 220 miles wide by 220 miles long), but the 7th largest in terms of population with some 11,536,504 people according to the 2010 census.
Hence it also has one of the highest population densities (9th) of any of the states, and is a massive powerhouse of an economy with a State GDP of $483.4 billion in 2010 ranking it as roughly equivalent in financial terms to the economies of such countries as Poland ($438 billion), Belgium ($461 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($434 billion).
The Capital of Ohio is Columbus, and this is also the largest city in the state with a city population of 787,033 and a metropolitan population of 1,773,120 ranking it as the 16th largest city in the United States.
The two biggest industries in Ohio are the Financial Sector (of which life insurance is a big contributor), and manufacturing. Each of which contributed 18.3% of Ohio’s total GDP, or in country comparison terms each packed the same economic punch as an entire country like Slovakia (GDP of $86 billion in 2010 according to the IMF).
Ohio Life Insurance – The Facts About OH Life Insurance
As befits a state of Ohio’s importance there are 517 life insurance companies who are licensed to sell life insurance in Ohio, and of these 43 are actually domiciled in the state.
The amount of jobs that these produce directly is an impressive 30,000 people, and there are a further 40,000 people who are in non-insurance jobs in Ohio that are supported by the life insurance sector.
Looking at the financial implications of life insurance in Ohio the numbers soon add up to some impressive figures.
If we consider the amount of life insurance cover that was bought in Ohio in 2009 then we arrive at a figure of $50 billion worth of individual life insurance cover, and a cumulative ownership of some 7 million individual life insurance policies in the state. Each of those policyholders has an average amount of life cover of $87,000, so it is clear that the amounts we are talking about are significant.
Group Life Insurance in Ohio amounts to $360 billion, and overall the Ohio Life Insurance Companies invest about $130 billion of their assets in Ohio.
What all this means on a yearly basis for average residents of Ohio is also significant, with $10 billion being paid out in death benefits and maturing endowments in 2009, and a further $3 billion being paid out in annuity benefits according to the American Council of Life Insurers.
Three Life Insurance Errors To Avoid Before Buying Ohio Life Insurance…
1/ Not Knowing How Much Life Insurance You Need
Many people seem to work out how much life insurance they need based on back of a napkin calculations.
This is a big mistake. Often when you rush into buying life insurance before figuring out how much cover you really need, you will miss out lots of crucial financial commitments that your dependants will end up having.
It isn’t just funeral arrangements, immediate bills and mortgage payments that need to be met with life insurance money.
What about:
Money for your children’s college education
Moving expenses
Paying for good work at charities you supported to continue
Childcare expenses if your spouse needs to continue working
Lost work expenses whilst your spouse is sorting out the funeral
This is by no means a complete list. You can probably think of dozens of others. But you get my point.
Work out exact figures. Not rough guesses.
2/ Not Knowing What Type Of Life Insurance You Need
The two main types of life insurance are Term Life Insurance and Permanent (or ‘Whole Life’) Insurance.
Term Life Insurance is cheaper because it pays out a death benefit, but does not offer type of savings element.
If you are strapped for cash it can make for a great option, but just be sure that you really don’t need the savings part.
Permanent Life Insurance is great if you only want to think about life insurance once, and also want an annuity element to the policy.
It will most likely be more expensive than term life insurance, but will cover you for your whole life, not just a term, and will also give you the added benefit of a savings or annuity element that term life insurance doesn’t.
Weigh up your options carefully before finally committing to a life insurance policy, because whilst either can be fine, you should know what you are buying.
3/ Not Getting It Early Enough!
Life insurance cover is cheaper the younger you buy it.
The reasons are pretty obvious. The younger you are, statistically the less likely you are to die. The insurance companies know that and so they price up their policies accordingly.
You will get more cover for a lesser amount of money, the younger you are.
So it makes sense to research your options as quickly as possible so that you can get covered as quickly as possible. It will save you money and provide security for your loved ones.
Ohio Life Insurance – The Details…
The laws and regulations surrounding how insurance is regulated in Ohio are codified in The State Insurance Code of Ohio.
This is a set of statutes relating to insurance that matters because this is essentially the rules by which consumers, Ohio Insurance Companies and professionals need to play by. So even if you wouldn’t necessarily wish to consult this regularly, it is nevertheless useful to know where to find them in case of disputes or queries with the general rules.
It is the Ohio Insurance Department which oversees the implementation of the State Insurance Codes of Ohio. It also attempts to simplify those rules so that consumers can understand them better, and provides a framework to communicate with Ohio Insurance Companies and ensure that the rules are being followed.
If a life or health insurance company in Ohio runs into problems and becomes insolvent, then it is the Ohio Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Assoociation that is tasked with stepping in to support holders of life and health insurance policies in Ohio.
Hopefully, you will never need these people :-) But it is useful to know they exist and how how to contact them.
