September 2020 Carrier Updates

October 2020 Carrier Updates

Last Updated: October 30

In addition to the carrier updates below, you may also be interested in:

AIG

  • New Contracting Requirements for the state of New York. With the launch of Power Index Premier® NY effective October 13, 2020, the first index annuity offered in the state of New York with an optional guaranteed lifetime income feature, we are introducing new Annuity Contracting documents and an Annuity Only Agency agreement to support the sale of USL. The completed documents will be required prior to issuance of Power Index Premier NY new business.
  • 2020 Year-End Processing Dates and Holiday Hours. Monday, December 7: Last day to conditionally issue and forward date Term policies where the effective and draft date will be December 28. All delivery requirements must be received by December 28 for the policies to be placed inforce. For CA policies, the last date delivery requirements may be received is November 27 due to extended forward-dating timeframe mandated by state. For more dates and deadlines, click link above.
  • Update to COVID-19 underwriting guidelines. As COVID-19 case numbers improve across key markets, we are pleased to announce that we are revising our temporary guidelines to provide more opportunities for cases to be underwritten, approved and issued. These guidelines are effective immediately. We will continue to follow the latest COVID-19 research and developments, and announce additional revisions as circumstances allow. Click the link above for more info.

Need help with any of AIG's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

American National

  • COVID-19 Underwriting Update. Due to the difficultly of obtaining medical exams and APS requirements in many areas, American National has decided to continue its expanded COVID-19 accelerated underwriting criteria. Reminder: If your case is approved and issued without an exam and you are able to schedule an exam at a later date, then Underwriting will review the exam results to see if a better rate class is warranted. Rest assured that all of our teams are working harder than ever to make it as easy as possible for you to sell and underwrite your business during these unprecedented times.

Need help with any of American National's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Cincinnati Life

  • 2020 Year-End Processing Dates and Holiday Hours. Underwriting Requirements: Must be received by December 16th. Issue Requirements: Must be received by December 29th.

Need help with any of Cincinnati's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

John Hancock

  • Introducing eDelivery of Policy Contracts. John Hancock introduces eDelivery of policy contracts for term and single-life universal life policies. John Hancock will continue to deliver policy contracts via temporary policy delivery process for policies not yet available through eDelivery.
  • 2020 Year-End Processing Dates and Holiday Hours. December 4: Submission of all outstanding underwriting and administrative requirements on your pending cases to Life New Business. December 21: All checks to put policies in force received in Life New Business. For more dates and deadlines, click link above.

Need help with any of John Hancock's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Legal & General

  • Regulation 187 Reminder. Effective October 20, 2020, Legal & General will begin holding all applications if the writing agent has not completed the “Best Interest Training” with LIMRA or provided a copy of the completion certificate from one of the approved companies prior to the submission of an application.
  • Updated Temporary UW Guidelines. A Good Health Statement will continue to be required with all new or pending applications unless there is a valid TIAA in place. COVID-19 disease cases remain unchanged - postponed for at least 30 days after full recovery. Reconsideration parameters will depend on the severity of the disease and current health status. Some foreign travel restrictions have eased: Travel plans to a country with advisory Level 1 or 2 is acceptable; Travel plans to a country with advisory Level 3 or 4 due to COVID-19: if travel will be canceled or delayed until the country is determined to be safe by the CDC and US State department guidelines, LGA will amend the application and proceed with completing the underwriting process; Travel plans to a country with advisory Level 3 or 4 due to civil unrest or terrorism - LGA will postpone the application until after travel takes place. Applicants recently returning from international travel will no longer be postponed. We will assess their risk based on answers to our COVID-19 questions during the underwriting process. See link for more details and full list of changes.
  • Digital Platform Enhancements. We're continuing to make rapid updates to enhance the experience for our customers, distribution partners and internal teams. Specifically for our external customers and distribution partners: (1) Applicants of all issue ages are now eligible to use the new digital application platform; (2) Applicants who are eligible and wish to include a TIAA with their application may now do so within the online application; (3) When dropping a ticket to iPipeline, omitting an applicant's email address will no longer automatically disqualify them from the digital app process completely. LGA will follow up with the client to attempt to obtain this information during their preferred interview time so that they can be sent an online application link; (4) The ability to issue multiple policies using the digital application is not yet available. Therefore, the applicant will need to go through the traditional AppAssist process. A 'Multiple Policy' section has been added to the bottom of the Product Info screen when dropping a ticket on Partner Dashboard. The agent will need to drop a separate ticket for each policy needed and select 'Yes' in the Multiple Policy section. These cases are automatically routed to the AppAssist Call Center and only one interview will be conducted for all policy applications.

Need help with any of Legal & General's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Lincoln

  • Coming Soon: NEW Long-Term Care Rider. Effective October 12, 2020, Lincoln will be introducing the newest addition to its life insurance rider portfolio, the Long-Term Care Rider (LTC Rider). Only available at policy issue, at an additional cost, this rider is designed for clients who have a primary need for death benefit protection but are also concerned about long-term care expenses of covered services for temporary and permanent chronic illness. This rider will initially be made available on Lincoln VUL ONE (2019) and will replace the Lincoln Care Coverage® Accelerated Benefits Rider (CCABR) in approved states.
  • Product Update Coming Soon: Lincoln VULONE (2019) – 10/12/20. Effective October 12, 2020, Lincoln will introduce Lincoln VULONE (2019) – 10/12/20. This new product version is being made available to accommodate the addition of a new Long-Term Care (LTC) Rider on Lincoln VULONE (2019). The change to the product version will apply to all policies sold, regardless of election of the LTC rider. Lincoln VULONE (2019) base product, pricing and features are not changing between the Lincoln VULONE (2019) – 05/11/20 and the Lincoln VULONE (2019) – 10/12/20. LTC Rider availability is the only change from the old version to the new.
  • 2020 Life Insurance Year-End Submission and Placement Guidelines. Lincoln’s Underwriting & New Business department is committed to helping you meet your year-end goals. To ensure a consistent experience, a December 18 placement deadline for 2020 life insurance business will be implemented, including Executive Benefits and Lincoln MoneyGuard®. Any final requirements received after this date will be handled on a first-in basis and those cases are not guaranteed for placement in 2020. We encourage you to submit any outstanding requirements for year-end cases as soon as possible. The following guidelines and key dates should be followed to help ensure your case(s) are prioritized for placement in 2020. See link for details.
  • Electronic Health Records Now Accepted. Over the last year, Lincoln Underwriting has been partnering with key vendors to leverage Electronic Health Records (EHR) for select cases. We are pleased to announce that this capability will now be offered for all life insurance cases. When available, the use of EHR will enable Lincoln to receive a client’s medical records quicker and more efficiently than a traditional Attending Physician’s Statement (APS).

Need help with any of Lincoln's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Mutual of Omaha

  • Reminder: Phase 2 LTC New Business Rate Refresh and Benefit Changes. Effective November 1, 2020, Mutual of Omaha will implement a rate refresh and benefit changes in five additional states.
  • Can You Keep All the AG49-A Changes Straight? What does the AG49-A regulation change on United of Omaha’s IUL products? Nothing. It means we are going to have absolutely no product changes. That’s because in the end, the regulators agreed with our long-standing IUL philosophy and our commitment to developing simple, client-friendly IUL products. The only minor change you will notice on our IUL illustrations as a result of AG49-A is: Effective November 19, 2020, our allowable illustrated Indexed Loan Spread will be reduced from 1.00% to 0.50%. That’s it! Nothing is changing on our product’s competitive loan provisions, it’s only the illustrated indexed loan spread that is changing.
  • Life Underwriting Updates. We will be expanding the cases we will accept beginning Thursday, October 1, 2020. The following guidelines will apply to all fully-underwritten life insurance cases. This includes any newly submitted and pending in-house cases, whether formal or informal. Please note, the guidelines below are temporary. International Travel Guidelines: All fully-underwritten life insurance cases where the proposed insured plans to travel or has traveled internationally to countries under a Level 4 travel advisory will be postponed. All other cases where the proposed insured plans to travel or has traveled internationally may be considered after all international travel is complete, and the proposed insured has been back in the United States for a minimum of 30 days. Acceptance Guidelines Based on Insured's Issue Age: If the individual is age 0-59: Eligible for best risk class underwriting. Please note, if the individual has co-morbid conditions resulting in a rating higher than Table 4, it may be postponed. We also will be suspending the FIT Underwriting Credit program for insureds age 0-59 with co-morbid conditions. If the individual is age 60-69: Must be rated a Table 2 or better. We will be temporarily suspending the FIT Underwriting Credit program for all insureds age 60-69. ​​​​​​​If the individual is age 70-79: Must have Standard or better risk classification. We will be temporarily suspending the FIT Underwriting Credit program for all insureds age 70-79. ​​​​​​​If the individual is 80 and above: Temporarily postponed.
  • New Disability Income Insurance Product. Mutual of Omaha is pleased to announce our new disability income insurance product, Mutual Income SolutionsSM, will be available on October 15, 2020. This new product features expanded occupation classes into medical professions, extended benefit periods up to age 70 and increased benefit option up to $20,000, and much more! The first day to take an e-Application for Mutual Income Solutions is Thursday, October 15, 2020. Mutual Income Solutions is approved in all states, except California and New York. Effective October 1, 2020, Mutual Income Solutions marketing materials will be available for download in Forms and Materials, and available to order via your normal ordering channels.

Need help with any of Mutual of Omaha's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Nationwide

  • 2020 Year-End Processing Dates and Holiday Hours. Make sure your Nationwide® life insurance and CareMatters cases count for 2020 production by keeping these dates in mind. December 14: deadline for us to receive applications. December 28: deadline for us to receive premium. Please note: Applications must be in good order for these deadlines to apply. Holiday schedule: December 24 and December 25: Closed for the Christmas holiday. January 1, 2021: Closed New Year’s Day.

Need help with any of Nationwide's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

OneAmerica

  • New: Submit Applications Via Email. OneAmerica now has a designated email address for application submissions. Attach the PDF application and send to NBApplicationSubmissions [at] oneamerica [dot] com. Be sure to use email encryption when sending to ensure private data remains secure. Once received, the application will be processed and given a policy number. As a reminder, eApp is the quickest and easiest submission process to ensure the application and forms are in good order.

Need help with any of OneAmerica's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Pacific Life

  • 2020 Year-End Closing. Important dates and information about year-end closing are highlighted in the attached PDF. December 23, 2020 is the last day to receive requirements for 2020 production credit (paid as 2020 income): initial premium and all in good order last requirements must be received to fund the policy regardless of funding source.

Need help with any of Pacific Life's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Principal

  • New IUL regulation and index cap rate changes. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is making enhancements to Actuarial Guideline XLIX (AG 49), which governs indexed universal life (IUL) insurance products. The new regulation is called AG 49-A and is designed to provide more consistency in IUL illustrations by limiting how products with index-linked interest rate enhancements can illustrate. AG 49-A goes into effect Dec. 14, 2020—and all IUL illustrations must be compliant with the regulation by that date.

Need help with any of Principal's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

SBLI

Need help with any of SBLI's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Securian

  • 2020 Year-End Processing Dates and Holiday Hours. December 11: recommended last day for Tele-UW and medical requirements. December 23: last day to process business for 2020 compensation. All missing requirements, including money, must be received in good order by 3pm CT.

Need help with any of Securian's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Symetra

  • Updates to our underwriting guidelines. Last spring, as a result of COVID-19, we announced several temporary changes to our underwriting guidelines. We are pleased to announce that we are easing some of these restrictions, effective immediately. Key Highlights: • For ages 60 to 69, we are now applying routine underwriting assessment and criteria. • For our high-net-worth foreign national market program, we have reverted to our pre-COVID underwriting capabilities (for A & B countries up $20 million in capacity). Click the link above for additional details and requirements.
  • Reminder: AG49A transition rules and UL crediting rate changes. Like all carriers, Symetra is required to transition the way we illustrate indexed universal life (IUL) products to meet the Actuarial Guideline AG49A, by Dec. 14, 2020. To meet this regulatory deadline, we have established transition rules for our Accumulator and Protector IUL products. We are also reducing our credited rate for in-force Symetra UL-G and CAUL policies in December.
  • Year-end business deadlines. Please mark your calendars with these important year-end business processing deadlines: We recommend that all underwriting requirements be received at Symetra by Monday, Dec. 7. To ensure timely processing, final issue requirements for life new business should be received by Friday, Dec. 18, for both daily and weekly commission schedules. Symetra will continue to process and place business through Thursday, Dec. 31.
  • IUL Extra Coverage Program. If your clients have purchased up to $3 million of fully underwritten Symetra permanent life insurance within the last two and a half years, they can purchase an additional Symetra Protector or Accumulator IUL policy for up to $1 million in coverage with limited underwriting. Click link for details.
  • Accelerated UW Program. With this program, your clients can get a Symetra permanent life insurance policy without completing an in-person exam or submitting an APS. The program is available for clients ages 18 to 60 who receive a Standard rate class or better.

Need help with any of Symetra's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Zurich

  • End of Year Cut-off Dates. Please note the important dates below to ensure you have a smooth year-end close with Zurich: Monday, December 7th - Deadline for: Receipt of any changes and all requirements to Formal Applications for final approval. Tuesday, December 22nd - Deadline for: Receipt of all delivery requirements to place a policy in-force for it to be included in final 2020 commission run. Wednesday, December 30th: Final commission run.
  • Improvements to COVID Guidelines for Foreign Nationals. Zurich now accepts Foreign National and Foreign Travel cases for consideration.
  • IUL Extra Coverage Program. We recently became aware that the effective date of AG49A has been moved from November 25, 2020 to December 14, 2020. Below are updated transition guidelines with new dates. Click here to listen to our recent webinar that explain all of the changes that will take place with AG49A. Effective November 23, 2020, WinFlex Web will be updated with the rates in the table below and the new maximum loan interest spread of 0.50% in order to comply with the new AG49A requirements for Zurich’s Index UL products. All new policies placed in-force on or after December 14, 2020 must have an illustration that complies with AG49A. Note: There are no changes to the actual products at this time, including current growth cap rates, index spreads, and guaranteed bonuses on interest credited in the prior year for all three products.

Need help with any of Zurich's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Need help navigating the ever-increasing selection of products from these carriers? Learn how partnering with us can help you earn more, better serve your clients, and sell more life insurance online.

Work with Pinney

Enjoying Our Blog?

If so, please leave us a Google rating or review! It really helps others discover us and our content online.

Leave a Review