I would like to take this time to send my thanks and appreciation to our dedicated team members who have been employed with AccuQuote for over a decade.

Your hard work has helped thousands of customers find affordable protection for their loved ones. You’re truly an example of how passionate we are about serving people’s life insurance needs.

During your time here, you’ve surely witnessed the stunning effects of life insurance, whether in your own lives or in the lives of those you’ve served. It gives me great pleasure to know that I work with employees like you! Please continue your hard work and positive ongoing efforts.

I’m looking forward to the New Year ahead and another decade of service!

From left to right: Peggy Zea, Janine Ursin, Geoff Calhoun, Kim Diaz, Kay Bradley, Randi Garlenski, Barb Sachs, Sue Cherry, Tedd Patel

Traveling this holiday season? If you’re like most people, you probably are. And let’s face it, most of us dread holiday travel. Why? Maybe it’s because we get anxious after only a few hours spent with family in the car, but my biggest concern is the cost.

While searching for ways to save, I came across 5 money saving road trip tips, published by Kathleen Crislip. Check them out below:

1. Avoid the drive-through – Running through fast food restaurants costs a lot and staying in the car tends to get boring. Stop in a local diner for mega meals on the cheap instead. You can find big dinners for a few bucks.
2. Save on snacks – Snacks are big budget killers on road trips. Instead, pick up cheaper chips at grocery stores in economy-sized bags; you’ll get roughly twice as much for your money. And, bring a cooler loaded up with sodas from home.
3. Stay for free – If the weather permits, camp for free!
4. Find the cheapest gas – Check out some likely choices for cheap gas in advance with online gas cost calculators. Remember to take notes so you don’t forget where to save once you’re on the road.
5. Save gas while driving – Follow a few simple gas-saving tips to reduce driving costs:

-Turn off the AC; it’s a huge gas drainer. Leaving four-wheel-drive engaged is also a gas-drainer

-Ease off the pedal well before a stop sign and coast to a stop, and take off slowly. Burning rubber burns gas needlessly.

-Inflate tires to close to max. To know your tire’s max, carry a teeny tire gauge and read the tire’s side.

-Avoid floors-it-for-you cruise control.

-Don’t speed. It wastes gas and one ticket can destroy a summer road trip budget.

Keep reading AccuQuote’s blog every Friday for more money saving tips. You can also become a fan of AccuQuote on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And remember, AccuQuote can help you save 70% on your term life insurance by comparing low cost life insurance policies with the best term life insurance companies.

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As our friends, customers and colleagues, we want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to reflect on everything we’re grateful for in our lives, whether it’s being grateful for having supportive friends and family, a roof over our heads or a job to go to everyday.

At AccuQuote, we’re thankful for our tremendous community of customers like you. Because we’re truly passionate about serving your term life insurance needs, we appreciate your ongoing trust in us. Our hardworking team is continually committed to helping you and you loved ones find the right life insurance coverage to make things easier for your family’s financial future. We understand that the topic of life insurance is a difficult conversation to have…that’s why we’re here to help.

Here are some of my Thanksgiving thoughts:

• Personally and professionally, I’ve witnessed the effects of life insurance (and unfortunately, lack of life insurance). When planning your family’s financial future, life insurance should be one of the first things on your mind. Our life insurance agents tell people that “this may be the most important financial conversation of your life”…this is the type of thing that we’re talking about.

• I’m also thankful that AccuQuote has partnered with several outstanding companies to offer you excellent deals on outstanding products. Please feel free to let us know how we can better communicate these complementary products and services. An example of a few trusted partners are: TurboTax, LegalZoom (discount code: AccuQuote), Restaurant.com, and TrustedID.

So, now it’s your turn to tell me, what are you thankful for this holiday season?  We look forward to hearing from you!

From my family to yours….have a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving!

November 25, 2009

Double your coverage

Description:

Byron Udell, the nation’s foremost life insurance and annuity industry expert, talks about a great opportunity available for current American General Life Insurance Company customers. For a limited time, these customers can double their life insurance coverage with no labs and little paperwork.

Size: 3.79 MB

Length: 4:08

Click here to download

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After applying for term life insurance, there is a waiting period before you’re approved or denied coverage called underwriting. What is it? During underwriting, the health and lifestyle information you provide on your application is evaluated. Based on this information, underwriters can determine an appropriate term rate.

So how long does underwriting take? It depends. The process can take anywhere from 24 hours for a quick-issue policy (no medical exam) to a few months for a larger policy with an exam (these exams are paid for by the life insurance company and typically only last 10-15 minutes). Keep in mind that the larger the policy applied for, the closer underwriters will evaluate your health and lifestyle information.

The most important thing to know when it comes to underwriting is that if you don’t send all of the required information to the life insurance carrier within a certain time period (typically 60 days), your case will be closed – meaning you’ll have to reapply for coverage and in some cases, retake the medical exam.

To save time and frustration, be sure to act quickly when applying for coverage. If you’re approved, your new life insurance policy will be put in force and delivered to you shortly after.

For more information about the life insurance underwriting process and to apply for coverage today, contact one of AccuQuote’s experienced life insurance professionals. In five minutes an agent can evaluate your individual needs and provide a free term life insurance quote based on your health and lifestyle.

At AccuQuote, we’re truly passionate about term life insurance. Why? Because we not only believe in it, but we know that it’s one of the best purchases you will make to protect your family’s financial future. We’ve witnessed dozens of stories where life insurance has taken the financial burden away from surviving loved ones. And although we know that life insurance cannot replace a lost family member or friend, it can help to get through those hard times when financial matters should not be top of mind.

Let’s face it – life insurance is not an easy subject to approach with your loved ones. But the fact is: It’s not a subject that should be ignored.

However, today is not about us. We would like to hear from you!

• What are your feelings about life insurance?
• Has life insurance played a role in your life?
• Is there anything more that you would like to know about life insurance?

Please share your thoughts and tell us your story! Your feedback means a lot to us!

The day after thanksgiving, known as “Black Friday” in retail circles, is the most popular shopping day of the year. So be prepared to wait in line and surf through large crowds. But there’s one thing that doesn’t have to stress you out on the biggest shopping day of the year, and that’s spending money. Bankrate.com provides 5 tips for shopping success on Black Friday:

1. Do your research – Check online and in the Thanksgiving Day newspaper for coupons and deals. You can also comparison shop online. Similar to how AccuQuote compares term life insurance rates, many department stores compare consumer product deals.
2. Create a game plan – It’s best to choose a shopping destination that has multiple stores. This way you can avoid extra driving, traffic and parking. And, make sure your car is cleaned out so you have room for all of your new purchases.
3. Shop early – Karen Hoxmeier, founder and owner of MyBargainBuddy.com, suggests that shoppers remember to “go early and get done early.” You can also try shopping on Thanksgiving Day when many deals become available online up to 24 hours earlier.
4. Bring a friend – Long store lines are easier to handle when you have a friend around. Or, have one of you stand in line while the other snatches deals. It’s also suggested that the kids stay at home, as large crowds can irritate the whole family.
5. Wait for cyber Monday – The Monday after Thanksgiving weekend is one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. Many sites offer great deals and free shipping.

Happy shopping!

For money saving tips, continue checking AccuQuote’s blog, become a fan of AccuQuote on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. And don’t forget to check here first to learn about the benefits of term life insurance coverage. By shopping online for free term life insurance quotes, you could save up to 70%!

The lines between heavy drinking and alcoholism are blurry at best, but when it comes to term life insurance, even a moderate drinker can have problems finding an affordable policy.

There is no doubt that heavy drinking can lead to health problems and take years off your life. Even though alcohol abuse can affect your life expectancy, insurers don’t have strict definitions for a “problem drinker” vs. an alcoholic. Underwriting is more of an art than a science when it comes to determining the risks associated with alcohol.

The first thing insurers will look at to determine if they need to worry about your alcohol use is your life insurance application. Insurers question your alcohol use on the life insurance application and, while they will rarely base their decisions solely on your answer, it can be an indicator that they should investigate further.

Life insurance applications also include questions about your medical history that insurers can use to gain insight into your alcohol use. While alcohol has the potential to damage every organ in the body, certain conditions, such as chronic inflammation of the pancreas or nonspecific liver problems, are often strongly associated with alcohol use.

If you have questions about whether or not your alcohol use will affect your life insurance rate, talk to a licensed life insurance professional at a multi-carrier brokerage firm, like AccuQuote. They will compare underwriting guidelines among the best life insurance companies and give you a free term life insurance quote based on your individual information. Inexpensive life insurance may not be hard to find!

Life insurance rescission is something that you want to avoid at all costs. What is it? It’s a legal action where your life insurance contract is declared void or canceled. This can happen if you lie or misrepresent material information on you life insurance application that directly affects your mortality and actuarial probabilities, such as lying about your age, tobacco-use or a pre-existing medical condition.

So when applying for life insurance, don’t leave anything out. By misrepresenting important information about your health and lifestyle, you risk leaving your family without the benefits of your policy when you die. For example, if you tell a life insurance carrier that you’re in prefect health, when in fact, you had a heart palpitation two years ago, that carrier can and will seek a rescission of your life insurance policy, leaving you uninsured and your family unprotected.

Following are two ways to avoid life insurance rescission:

1. Understand the difference between warranty and representation –A warranty is a promise or guarantee that a piece of information given is true. If a statement is not true, your life insurance company has the right to rescind the contract. Alternatively, a representation is a statement made by you that is relevant to the formation of the contract. Untrue Representations will cancel the contract.
2. Know your timeline – Life insurance carriers have up to two years after a contract was signed to identify a misrepresentation that occurred during the underwriting process. If a misrepresentation is recognized within two years, the carrier will rescind your life insurance policy.

The moral of the story is that you should not lie or misrepresent any information on your life insurance application. By lying, you risk leaving your family unprotected when you die. If you’re concerned about paying a higher premium due to a medical condition, don’t be. Cheap life insurance is easy to find. Talk to a licensed life insurance agent at a multi-carrier brokerage firm. They can compare underwriting guidelines among top-rated life insurance companies and give you a free term life insurance quote based on your individual circumstances. The most important thing to remember is that having some term life insurance is better than having no coverage at all.

All of us have many things to be thankful for: our family, friends, homes, health, jobs, etc. At AccuQuote, we’re passionate about showing our thanks to those who have helped us throughout the year including our employees, customers and friends. That’s why this year we’re hosting a Thanksgiving feast and a food drive for a local food pantry.

We know that many of you have plans of thanks too. That’s why we’re interested in hearing about ways that you are giving back this holiday season.

Please share your thoughts and tell us your story!