SBA Lender "Super Close" Program

For SBA Lenders by independent business life insurance brokers to obtain SBA 504/7(a) required coverage with more certain and faster approvals at the best rates for smoother, faster loan closings and customer satisfaction.

Have you had SBA or other commercial loan closings interminably delayed or even blown up by “my insurance guy”? You know the one- your loan applicant’s personal or some other random insurance agent brought into the mix to fulfill SBA 7(a) or 504 life insurance assignment requirements? (Dare I say it, but maybe even in-house staff sometimes?)

These problems and more are most often the result of inexperienced or unqualified insurance agents out of their depth and areas of expertise attempting to underwrite this critical, must-have component so vital to your business. 

“My insurance guy” too often turns out to be…

• Their car, boat and homeowner’s insurance agent. Though knowledgeable and competent in their field of Property & Casualty insurance very, very few P&C agents write life insurance regularly, if at all and usually simple family coverage. Writing multi-million dollar policies for business needs is a higher order of magnitude in complexity.  
• Just like Commercial vs. Consumer lending, the Life and P&C insurance businesses are different worlds and finding an insurance agent fully competent in both is akin to spotting Bigfoot. Betting your loan’s outcome on your client knowing Bigfoot is a long shot, indeed.
• Their personal life insurance agent. Sounds OK, right? Wrong. Most Life agents are “Career Agents” with a major company who are required to place all life insurance with their primary company first. These agents typically cannot broker business from the start to match the life applicant to the appropriate company(ies) who will treat his or her health, financial and other underwriting factors most favorably. This could mean weeks of underwriting with less likelihood of a favorable outcome after all the delay and frustration.
• The vast majority of “my insurance guys” are in one or both categories. Many P&C agents are also married to a primary company and must also place all life business through it. 

Solid Life insurance underwriting begins in the field with the agent, just like loans. And so do many underwriting problems and delays when the agent is inexperienced in a market or limited to one or a few insurers.

Why does the agent’s status matter?

1.      The Broker/Agent as “Field Underwriter”:

Life insurance underwriting is far more involved than people think especially when over $1 million in coverage and involves varied purposes of coverage with multiple and more complex relationships between the insured, policy owner(s), and beneficiaries and/or assignees. Age tends to complicate it further with higher incidences of serious health issues that are sometimes unknown even to the applicant at the time. Underwriting complexity grows exponentially the higher the policy face amount, older the applicant and varied its purpose.

It’s not just the insureds past and present health under review but also their financial situation and history, other life coverages in force, employment and business relationships, any criminal history, travel, avocations, hobbies, sports, activities and even their driving record. 

• When a life insurance applicant and insurer are mismatched inordinate delays are inevitable as the wary underwriters demand to see more information, more medical records, more clarifications and explanations, more, more, more….delays. Such mismatches are more likely to result in “rate ups” of significantly higher premiums than quoted which in turn can lead to customer dissatisfaction and reluctance or even refusal to accept the costlier insurance offer. 
• WORST of all is a rejection, or as we say, your customer’s life insurance application is “declined”. This means not just starting over at another insurer but the rejection (or premium “rate ups” for that matter) are on record for the next company to see who then ratchets up their underwriting scrutiny just as surely as night follows day. Meantime, you’ve already blown through the hoped for closing date.
• Either of these outcomes can also damage your relationships with customers and your institution jeopardizing ancillary services and business to be had.

All of this can be avoided by an experienced and competent business life insurance broker well versed and practiced in field underwriting. It’s an old term for life agents who function quite literally as the eyes and ears of the underwriters to uncover and learn the facts before a quote is given or an application submitted and from what sources needed information and documentation to address those issues can be obtained. Solid field underwriting directs the application process to the appropriate company(ies) that will treat the applicant’s issues most favorably. The process continues from the field by bird-dogging records, documentation, detailed Agent’s Reports, follow-up evaluations and Physician’s Statements. 

Did you know the average total time spent on a life insurance application by an underwriter is 15 minutes?

That’s right, fifteen total minutes so all the relevant facts, mitigating explanations and assessments had better be in the underwriter’s picture at decision time. Almost any case can be approved by some company somewhere so long as it was the right company to apply with in first place and the issues involved are addressed to their satisfaction. 

And it all starts with us- expert life insurance field underwriters. Who’s yours?

2.      Brokerage Capability:

As mentioned, many if not most agents, whether life or P&C, are married to a “primary company” and must put life business through it first. That company may be just fine for ordinary family cases and do a decent job for applicants a little outside its norms but may not be competitive at all for high-end business cases involving serious medical and/or other issues.  Trouble is, that won’t be known until after weeks of underwriting that result in a highly rated policy or none at all if declined.

Life Insurance companies are like lenders in that they have personalities and are strong in some markets, weak or uninterested in others. Company A may take a hard line with heart conditions while company D is more liberal about coronary issues, Company C treats diabetes more favorably while company B actively discourages diabetics with high rates and rejections. Company H treats cigar-only smokers, cannabis users and tobacco chewers as non-smokers while most others charge the nearly doubled Smoker’s rate.  It is crucial to know the companies and have access to as many as necessary to be effective in a given life insurance market, especially the business life insurance market.

The more complex the life market, such as business cases, the more important good field underwriting and brokering among a stable of suitable and responsive companies is. We have the relationships and experience with many companies and the ability to reach out to any company if necessary. We have the contacts and know their processes and procedures. We get it done.

Our SBA Lender Super Close Program puts it all together:

Long experienced and highly capable independent life insurance brokers and a stable of companies highly competitive in the business life insurance marketplace. We quote your customers accurately and match them to the right life insurance companies from the start. We follow-up each case daily to address any questions or meet added underwriting requirements. If a case is particularly difficult, we’ll apply with several insurers simultaneously and let them compete. â€œMy insurance guy” typically cannot do that or isn’t up to it. 

Many of our cases are approved in two days and because of our volume of business we win many of the toughest cases more favorably that other agents and brokers might not win at all. We don't stop there. We'll follow up each year with your customers to see if we can lower their life insurance rates making you look better.

Our SBA Lender Super Close Program is aimed at those cases experience tells you are going to be tough- those customers, perhaps older, with known or stated medical issues and large face amounts. Those who’ve been rated-up or declined in the past. The types of cases your other life insurance sources have had frustrating delays and disappointing results with before. New customers who want to use “my insurance guy” but can tell you little more than that about them.

The most crucial step is matching the life applicant to the right insurer based on health and other critical variables. This requires highly qualified, independent brokers with access to many insurers experienced in business case underwriting. That's us. Your loans and bottom lines no longer have to be held hostage to random insurance agents.

What does this mean to you?

1. Responsiveness to both lender and customers.
2. Brokers motivated by YOUR need for smooth, speedy closings.
3. Multiple insurers = more certain and faster approvals at lower rates. As soon as 2 days!
4. Expert brokers who quote accurately and match applicants to the right insurers.
5. No more delayed closings or lost deals to random inexperienced and unqualified insurance agents.
6. Happier customers = more ancillary business.

If you've had it with YOUR deals riding random insurance agents, then call the SBA Lender Super Close Pros who know what you need and get it done. 561-389-8760, mshepler@leadersgroup.net

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