One of the key considerations when looking to get Oregon Life Insurance Quotes is exactly what you can expect to get when you purchase, and the kinds of levels of cover that you would be able to get.
In this article I am going to explore life insurance in Oregon both from the perspective of a consumer, and also looking at the industry in the context of the economy of the state as a whole. I will also talk about some of the different factors that you must bear in mind if you are going to get the best value life insurance.
Firstly, let’s take a look at some background information about the state of Oregon so that we can get a feel for it.
(If you would like to get some affordable Oregon life insurance quotes right now, then simply use the box above.)
Oregon – A Little Background…
Oregon lies on the west coast of the United States, above California, and below Washington. It is the 9th largest state in the US in terms of physical area, with a total area of 98,381 square miles (approximately 400 miles wide by 360 miles long), or roughly the size of the United Kingdom.
But in population terms it is only the 27th largest State, with 3,831,074 people according to the 2010 US Census. It is however worth noting that the rate of growth in the population has been high since 2000 in comparison with other states, and that this figure represents a 12% increase over the 2000 census figures.
The largest city and also the state capital is Portland, which has a city population of 583,776 and a metropolitan population of 2,241,841; so is by far the most populated region of the state, and in practice much of Oregon is still wild lands, volcanoes, deserts and lush forests. Though interestingly, there is only one national park in Oregon, Crater Lake National Park.
Oregon has the 26th highest state GDP of any of the states at $168.9 billion in 2010, which by way of comparison is roughly equivalent to the GDP of Pakistan ($164.8 billion in 2010).
If you like hazlenuts then you will like Oregon, because 95% of all the hazlenuts produced in the United States come from Oregon; and you may also like a drop of wine to wash them down, because wine is also a big industry with similar soil conditions dictating that grapes such as you would also find grown in Burgundy in France are most often grown in Oregon.
Oregon Life Insurance – The Facts About OR Life Insurance
There are 463 Oregon Life Insurance Companies who are licensed to sell life insurance in Oregon, two of whom are domiciled in the state.
In pure job terms the life insurance industry is a big employer in Oregon with 8,000 people directly employed by life insurance companies in the state, and a further 9,000 non-insurance jobs which are supported by the sector.
Oregon has one of the highest amounts of cover per policy-holder looked at across all of the different states, with an average of $150,000 worth of cover per policyholder, and over a million individual life insurance policies owned by the residents of Oregon.
If looked at over a period of one year for example, you would see that there was $20 billion worth of individual life insurance purchased in 2009, and that group life insurance cover (as a whole, not just 2009) amounted to $120 billion.
On a year by year basis $3 billion is paid out by the Oregon Life Insurance Companies in the form of policy dividends, matured endowments and death benefits; and there is a further $1 billion in annuity benefits paid out.
Taken as a whole it can be seen that the life insurance sector in Oregon is significant in economic terms to the state.
We Answer The Top Three Questions About Oregon Life Insurance...
1/ On What Does The Insurance Company Base The Cost Of My Insurance Premiums?
In simple terms the life insurance companies are basing this around how likely you are to die, and how long you want an insurance policy to stay in place (the term of the policy).
In practice this means that any of the following factors can affect your life insurance premiums and how much you pay for your cover:
Your age
Smoking habits
Medical condition
Dangerous Hobbies
2/ How Much Life Cover Do I Need?
This is difficult to answer, because it is going to depend not only on your current outgoings, but also a reasoned guess (which is all it can be) of both future expenditures and also any special projects that you might wish to fund with insurance money.
For example, if you have children then you may want to add an amount in to possibly pay for the costs of future college tuition fees.
Often times you will see recommend anywhere between 4 and 10 times your annual salary as a rule of thumb when buying life insurance. But in practice you really need to sit down and work out your own actual expenses so that the figures are based on your own financial reality.
3/ How Can I Get The Most Bang For My Buck With Life Insurance?
Undoubtedly you will find that in terms of the raw amount of death benefits that a policy provides you will be able to get the most cover for the least cost with an Oregon Term Life Insurance Policy.
However, the drawback to this is that there is no savings or annuity element, and so you may want to weigh up eventual death benefits with the possibility to save over the long term. In which case you might still choose to go for an Oregon Whole Life Insurance Policy.
Oregon Life Insurance – The Details…
With regard to the specifics of how life insurance is regulated in Oregon, you need to take a look at The State Insurance Code of Oregon.
This lays down the statutes, laws and regulations under which insurance business is carried out in Oregon.
You can find a copy of the Oregon Insurance Code Rules here:
It is the Oregon Insurance Division which oversees how all the different rules and statutes that are in operation with regards to insurance in the state of Oregon are enforced.
They also supply help and assistance to consumers, and on occasion can help to mediate with disputes between consumers and Oregon Life Insurance Companies.
Oregon Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association
In the event of a life insurance company in Oregon becoming insolvent, or not being able to pay out on its policies, then the Oregon Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association would step in to assist policyholders in Oregon.
