Easing the Burden for a Grieving Couple
Acting on a customer referral, agent Mike Acevedo from San Diego, California, met with a 32-year-old woman and her husband who were rejoicing at the birth of their newborn twins. The couple already had three other children.
Mike had written coverage on the woman's grandmother and mother, who had referred him. With this established measure of trust, he worked out a plan and wrote a $35,000 whole life policy on the parents with a $10,000 children's term rider on each of the five children. The couple made the first premium payment on the spot, and Mike issued them a binding receipt to seal the deal.
Recounting this story, Mike recalls how perfectly healthy the babies seemed. About a week later, though, he answered his cell phone while camping in the mountains. Doctors were still investigating the cause of death, but one of the twins had died for no apparent reason.
The emotional trauma of losing a child is immeasurable. And for this young mother, the additional stress of trying to find the extra money to pay for the funeral and other final expenses left few options other than selling the family car.
When Mike checked the status of the application, the underwriting process was still incomplete, but since he had issued a binding receipt, he filed a claim. Although it took some time, eventually the cause of death was determined to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company paid the claim, and Mike delivered the check to a grateful family.
"By writing the company a check today, provided all the information you've given me is accurate, you can have full coverage when I walk out of your door." Mike has said this many times, but now he knows from his own experience that it's true – and it made a world of difference to this family grieving the loss of their child.
