Life insurance interview

luckya23

Have you ever had to do one of these? 

I had one scheduled for 12pm, and she finally called at 1pm and just got off the phone!  You're supposed to report every doctor visit in the last 5 years and more "major" illnesses before that too.  Who remembers all this stuff??

Plus they have to send a paramedic to my house to do an actual exam with blood and urine tests.

DH is supposed to do one as well with a different company, but I'm positive he doesn't have the memory or patience for all of this!

I had to try to give my pediatrician info, for god's sake!  I know they have to try to find everything out, but there's no way that doctor is even still there, much less has my records available.

ETA:  Does anyone keep their own medical file?  I guess I should, but I never thought about keeping records from colds and such...

novella1186

Yikes. I've never had to do that. My company's benefits include life insurance and the payout is based on salary, so I'm fine with that. 

There's no way I remember every doctor visit and medical hiccup over the past 5 years! Jeez!! I've probably been to the doctor 11 times in the past 2 months thanks to my stomach issues but before that I hardly ever got sick so who knows. I can't even tell you what I had for dinner last week lol 

That's some intense screening. 

luckya23

I have a small policy through my job, but this particular company wasn't even interested in hearing about it!  She said they only ask about outside employment policies.

We just started the Dave Ramsey program, and he is all about term insurance!  Hopefully after we get through that lesson DH will be more amenable to getting his interview done. 

ShesSoCold

I work for a life insurance brokerage and I schedule the exams and see the questionnaires daily. It has definitely made me more aware of my medical record and what's in it. I have a paper file at home with all my medical docs in it - since working here, I've started jotting down when, who, and why I see a doctor on the inside of the folder itself. 

ETA: You don't necessarily need to know the exact dates and names - usually "I saw someone in October or November of 2012 for a flu" will suffice. If you're healthy it's unlikely that they will order records from every. single. doctor. If you're young and healthy, they might not need any records at all.

kvruns

I remember my parents doing it when I was little but I've never had one.  I just have whatever life insurance is offered to me when I start a new job, haven't gotten anything else on my own so no need for an exam.

As far as medical records, my mom recently gave me a bunch of stuff from when I was a kid and then I have a file cabinet folder where I keep health insurance documents and if I ever had anything big happen I'd probably keep a paper trail of it

luckya23

ShesSoCold said:

I work for a life insurance brokerage and I schedule the exams and see the questionnaires daily. It has definitely made me more aware of my medical record and what's in it. I have a paper file at home with all my medical docs in it - since working here, I've started jotting down when, who, and why I see a doctor on the inside of the folder itself. 

ETA: You don't necessarily need to know the exact dates and names - usually "I saw someone in October or November of 2012 for a flu" will suffice. If you're healthy it's unlikely that they will order records from every. single. doctor. If you're young and healthy, they might not need any records at all.

I could probably recall more about my 3 dogs' medical histories than my own, I swear!

It's interesting to hear from someone on the other side... you didn't just call a NY number, did you? haha

Maybe even just keeping a word file in my dropbox would be good in case I ever go through this again (though hopefully they will just approve me now!).  I had no idea they would need to know about things that weren't big diseases or something.  She took notes about when I got stitches in my finger earlier this year!  Why would they need to know that?? lol

I don't know if I'm really young (almost 34) or healthy (chronic high cholesterol, no meds), but hopefully they will sort it out.  It sounds like a bigger deal maybe if you get denied once!

lyndausvi

Oh god, my DH would fail miserably.   It doesn't help we moved 3 times in 4 years. So that is 4 places that have his records.   

Currently whenever he has a new doctor he is required (by me) to hand over the information sheet so I can make sure it's filled correctly.     

Just last week he had his first eye doctor appt EVER.   I look over the information sheet and looked at him like WTF, dude?   The allergic to meds line was blank.  He is allergic to penicillin.    

Under the list all the medication you are currently taking?  Blank.  Our counter fucking looks like a pharmacy with all the pill bottles he needs to take everyday.

He was like "what?  Its just an eye doctor?"       God help me.

[Deleted User]

Just reading about those requirements gives me anxiety. I would NEVER be able to remember all of my doctor visits or illnesses over the past 5 years unless it was something major.

luckya23

lyndausvi said:

Oh god, my DH would fail miserably.   It doesn't help we moved 3 times in 4 years. So that is 4 places that have his records.   

Currently whenever he has a new doctor he is required (by me) to hand over the information sheet so I can make sure it's filled correctly.     

Just last week he had his first eye doctor appt EVER.   I look over the information sheet and looked at him like WTF, dude?   The allergic to meds line was blank.  He is allergic to penicillin.    

Under the list all the medication you are currently taking?  Blank.  Our counter fucking looks like a pharmacy with all the pill bottles he needs to take everyday.

He was like "what?  Its just an eye doctor?"       God help me.

Mine would need me to go over it too... "luckily" though he actually hadn't been to ANY DOCTOR AT ALL that he could recall in the last 10 years until I made an appointment for him right after our honeymoon!

Irritatingly, it turns out he's still healthier than me!

ShesSoCold

luckya23 said:

ShesSoCold said:

I work for a life insurance brokerage and I schedule the exams and see the questionnaires daily. It has definitely made me more aware of my medical record and what's in it. I have a paper file at home with all my medical docs in it - since working here, I've started jotting down when, who, and why I see a doctor on the inside of the folder itself. 

ETA: You don't necessarily need to know the exact dates and names - usually "I saw someone in October or November of 2012 for a flu" will suffice. If you're healthy it's unlikely that they will order records from every. single. doctor. If you're young and healthy, they might not need any records at all.

I could probably recall more about my 3 dogs' medical histories than my own, I swear!

It's interesting to hear from someone on the other side... you didn't just call a NY number, did you? haha

Maybe even just keeping a word file in my dropbox would be good in case I ever go through this again (though hopefully they will just approve me now!).  I had no idea they would need to know about things that weren't big diseases or something.  She took notes about when I got stitches in my finger earlier this year!  Why would they need to know that?? lol

I don't know if I'm really young (almost 34) or healthy (chronic high cholesterol, no meds), but hopefully they will sort it out.  It sounds like a bigger deal maybe if you get denied once!

Haha no. I don't actually do the interviews, just order them. 

The insurance company will also run some reports - like your driving record but for medical stuff. So as long as you tell them what you know, you'll be fine. They might come back and say "Devonn saw a Dr. Schmo in December of 2011 - please provide details" for something you forgot about, but it shouldn't be a big deal.

They ask about every. single. thing. because they don't want you to determine what's "important" or not. 

Your agent should have prepared you for this, though. I've seen clients get declined for coverage for not being forthcoming with info. For example, if you (general you) have sleep apnea or three DUIs but answer those questions as "no" on the app, the carrier will find out about it and ask for info. I'm trying to convince an agent right now that telling the carrier up front that his client smokes marijuana is WAY better than them finding it in the urine sample. 

jenna8984

We just got policies about a year ago and they only asked for major medical such as hospitalizations, broken bones, etc. And even then I just gave vague info "dog bite, right hand, 2012, don't remember the doctor" and they were fine with that. We did have the nurse come to our house to take blood and urine and my premium went up a little because I was unaware that I had high cholesterol. But other than that, the process was really easy.

@novella1186 Depending how much your policy is through your work, I'd still get one that can pay off your mortgage now that you're a new homeowner. We didn't go nuts with ours but we made sure to at least cover that much.