The Authoritative Guide to Obtaining Life Insurance for Police Officers in [2024]
Police officers today face a significant amount of stress in their line of work. Recognizing this, our agency has developed a straightforward and efficient process for purchasing life insurance, designed to make your experience as seamless as possible.
As a committed member of law enforcement, your peace of mind is our utmost priority. We recognize the unique challenges and risks that come with your daily duties. To ensure you receive the most favorable rates, we have partnered with over 40 leading insurance carriers.
If you have any pre-existing health conditions, the companies we partner with offer exceptional flexibility in their underwriting criteria. Contact us for a personalized quote and experience on how simple and straightforward applying for police life insurance can be.
Low cost term life insurance can provide you with the peace of mind knowing that you and your family members will be financially secure in the face of unexpected events.
The best is yet to come, so keep reading and I will show you how to easily secure the best life insurance for police officers.
Table of Contents
- Is it Difficult to Purchase Police Life Insurance?
- Why Police Officers Need Life Insurance
- Types of Life Insurance Coverage to Consider
- Is an Officers Group Life Insurance Enough?
- How Much Does Police Life Insurance Cost?
- Best Life Insurance Companies for Police Officers
- Applying for Life Insurance With Health Conditions
- How to Compare the Best Life Insurance Rates
- When to Purchase Your Police Life Insurance Policy
- Benefits of Life Insurance for Police Officers
- In Conclusion
Is It Difficult to Purchase Police Life Insurance?
It is widely held among law enforcement officers that they will be required to pay a higher life insurance premium than the standard population due to the perilous risks they face on a daily basis in their line of work. Many hold the opinion that the job of a law enforcement officer involves significant risk.
The good news is that the life insurance industry does not label police work as a high-risk occupation. In exceptional cases this can apply, like that of an undercover narcotics officer who has infiltrated a drug cartel. Unless you work in this unusually dangerous field of police work, you will not pay more than an average civilian for your police life insurance.
If a law enforcement applicant is in good health and of a normal height and weight, they could be expected to be issued a policy with a rate class of “preferred” or even “super preferred”. So rest assured, the life insurance industry appreciates your service and will never penalize you with higher premiums.
Why Police Officers Need Life Insurance
Police officers and all other members of law enforcement need life insurance because they are no different than anyone else such as a dentist, an accountant or a school teacher. They all share the same task which is their responsibility to earn an income so they may satisfy their financial liabilities. There are two main financial categories that adult Americans face which are:
Payment of Debts:
Life insurance offers financial protection from typical debts such as mortgage payments, car payments, clothing, medical expenses and children’s education just to name a few. Needless to say, you would never want your dependents to inherit these forms of debt in your absence. Life insurance offers the peace of mind that this worry would never come to light.
Replacement of Income:
Current statistics indicate that 74% of all police officers are married and have at least one child that they are supporting. It would be a horrific life changing experience for their dependents to have to face the everyday expenses without any form of an income stream.
Best Types of Life Insurance for Police Officers to Consider
Members of the law enforcement community will have the same choice of coverage to choose from as anyone else. The three main types will be term insurance, permanent coverage and no-medical-exam life insurance. An explanation of these three categories is explained below.
Term Life Insurance:
The most common form of life insurance today would be term insurance by far. Term policies are a temporary form of life insurance that is purchased for a specific length of time referred to as term periods. These policies can be purchased at intervals from 10 to 30 years in length.
Banner Life offers term policies with as high a face amount of 40 years. Term is by far the most common form of life insurance because of their low cost factor when compared to other choices.
Permanent Life Insurance:
Permanent Life Insurance would entail universal life and whole life insurance coverage. Universal life would be the best choice due to the fact that whole life can be considered obsolete. Many insurers have dropped whole life from their list of products because of its very high cost.
With the higher face amounts requested by people, purchasing whole life would be unaffordable for most people to afford. Universal life accomplishes the same protection at a fraction of the cost and lasts the life of the insured as long as they keep paying their premiums.
No Exam Life Insurance:
This common form of coverage is virtually the same as a conventional term policy but it utilizes a shorter application and also eliminates the need for a medical exam. No medical exam policies can also have a very short underwriting timeline, which can even be as fast as an instant decision.
The only downsides to these policies are they cost more than conventional term policies and cannot be used if you have serious health conditions. They are still a very good choice for life insurance for police officers.
Does Employer-Provided Group Life Insurance Offer Adequate Coverage?
Group life insurance is offered as part of a benefit package offered by police departments. Many law enforcement officers believe that will be sufficient and do not pursue looking for additional coverage on their own along the lines of a personal policy. These group plans will usually always fall short when it comes to the amount needed for an adequate face amount.
On average, these group plans will offer a face amount of between two and three times the officer’s annual income, which is never going to be enough to eliminate his family’s debts if he is killed on the job. If he dies by natural means off the job, the face amount may be even less. In many cases the face amount may be based on the officer’s income.
This may represent a problem for a new officer who has not had enough time for pay grade increases through the years. The department’s group life insurance program is fine, but it will definitely not be enough to support the officer’s dependents until they can get on their feet after his untimely death. An individual life insurance policy is going to be the only logical answer for proper financial protection.
How Much Does Police Life Insurance Cost?
The good news is life insurance for police officers does not cost any more than anyone else. A law enforcement officer can easily qualify for preferred rates as long as he or she is in good health as with anyone applying for new coverage. The most important concept to remember is don’t put off applying because rates are based on your age.
The older you are when you apply, the higher your premiums will be. New business quoting rates will increase by two to eight percent each year depending on how old you are if you procrastinate and drag your feet. Apply as soon as possible and lock in your rates!
Run our website quoting system by completing the form on the right or use our instant online quoting system where you will be able to compare life insurance plans from over 40 top rated insurers.
Best Life Insurance Companies for Police Officers to Consider
All members of the law enforcement community can choose virtually any carrier they would like if they have a personal preference. No single carrier would be best to apply with at any given time. Independent agents/brokers such as ourselves will typically choose the best life insurance companies for police offers after they run a quote comparison and pre-screen any health conditions if the applicant has any that could impact rates.
Every applicant varies slightly from the next one. A carriers rates will depend on the applicant’s age, height, weight, health status, medication use, parental longevity, driving record and more. That is why a simple pre-screen will pinpoint the most logical insurer to apply to.
Just to name a few top-rated life insurance companies, I would recommend Prudential, Lincoln Financial, Protective Life, Banner Life (Legal & General), Cincinnati Life and a few others. These would be excellent choices for the best life insurance for police officers and anyone else for that matter.
Applying for Life Insurance With Health Conditions
Health conditions will normally have an effect on a life insurance application, but it will always depend on the specific health condition in question.
If a medical condition such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol is present and it is controlled by medication, this will usually not become a problem.
Having multiple conditions together such as hypertension, high blood pressure, being overweight and smoking cigarettes will definitely become a problem which could increase your rates.
Smoking alone could increase your rates by over 200%.
Performing a simple health assessment will be necessary to properly make a judgment call to see what company to apply with and what will be the expected premium so the applicant has some idea where the application process is headed. Doing some homework up front will pay off in the end once the application is approved.
How to Compare the Best Life Insurance Quotes for Police Officers
Searching for the lowest rates is a snap with the use of a modern quoting engine. There is more to analyzing who has the best rates by just viewing a quoting system for a few minutes. Finding the best life insurance rates for police officers will have to be performed by an experienced insurance agent.
Just keep in mind that your health history is your top priority when shopping for the best police life insurance. You can contact us and we will give you a quote right over the phone without any cost or obligation.
When to Purchase Life Insurance
The best time to apply for police life insurance is right now. The longer you wait, the higher your premium will be because they are based on your age. Depending on your current age, new business rates will increase each year between 2 to 8 percent. As soon as your new policy goes into force, your rates will be locked in for the entire term period.
As you get older, medical conditions start to appear which is only natural and your rates will be impacted and depending on the condition you have, your application could even be declined. The bottom line is to apply as soon as possible to avoid any of these unwanted problems.
Benefits of Life Insurance for Police Officers
Income replacement and debt coverage are the benefits of life insurance that we’ve previously discussed. Nevertheless, there’s another aspect that is equally significant.
The financial security offered by life insurance allows your family to grieve and heal without the added stress of financial hardships.
The comfort of knowing that your family’s financial stability would not be jeopardized if you were no longer present to provide for them. This peace of mind is priceless.
Our Final Thoughts
As you can see, applying for police life insurance is a simple and straightforward process.
The most important concept is that the life insurance industry appreciates the fine work and dedication that police officers perform on a daily basis.
Contact us with any questions you might have and I will be happy to answer them for you. Take care and be careful out there!
All the best,
Jack Venturi
*Should you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to call us at 815-390-7545 for an immediate response. We’re here to help!