tdiu Insurance

[red]

I was awarded tdiu in 1999 and t&p 2 years later. I have had a va disability since 1963. My question is, is it past the time for me to get the insurance that was possible after I received t&p. I did not know that I could apply for it after a new disability. Also, can anyone tell me if I can apply for insurance thru the goverment now. I am paying over 100.00 a month for 48,000 of life insurance. If I could beat this, I would drop the policy i have had for 25 years. I am 68 years old and in fair shape, I guess, who knows. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

[john999]

It has been too long to get disabled vet life insurance since your TDIU award. If you can find another disability you can it for free. I would try select quote to see if you could do better.

[Chuck75]

If you have had and paid the insurance for 25 years, why stop it now?

It's doubtful that you could go out and buy a replacement policy for the same money.

Additional insurance thru the VA may be useful if you can qualify.

I was awarded tdiu in 1999 and t&p 2 years later. I have had a va disability since 1963. My question is, is it past the time for me to get the insurance that was possible after I received t&p. I did not know that I could apply for it after a new disability. Also, can anyone tell me if I can apply for insurance thru the goverment now. I am paying over 100.00 a month for 48,000 of life insurance. If I could beat this, I would drop the policy i have had for 25 years. I am 68 years old and in fair shape, I guess, who knows. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

[cloudcroft]

[EDIT: Sorry Red, I just now saw after I posted this (I'm often dazed-and-confused...and no, I am not on meds so no excuse there) that you are 68...but of course, you were not 68 back 25 years ago when you got the policy so I don't get why your premium is so high! STILL, try again shopping around online...maybe your better health than most 68-year-olds will help you out. It may be that NOW, however, at 68 years of age and even in good/fair (?) health, $100/month will look pretty good to you AFTER you get some quotes NOW...don't know but I would start shopping anyway. I DO think 25 years ago when you were 43 years old and got the $100/month deal, you got charged WAY too much, especially compared to what I just got at 58 years old NOW...unless you had some serious health issues back then. Regardless, getting online now and shopping for Term Life -- asking for quotes -- won't cost you anything to find out what you can get, so do it...and let us know what you find out! My best wishes to you finding a good deal. I am leaving this post anyway because describing what happened to me at 58 may help other vets who are also looking for Term Life and are also in their late 50s. EDIT]

I don't know how old you are but I am 58, and I recently got a 20-year Term Life policy ($50K for $55.xx/month with Genworth Financial). It WOULD have been $48.xx/month but I guess my height/weight ratio bothered them so they upped the premium $7 a month...I jumped on it anyway.

Why? Because when I applied to a bunch of companies online (also with SelectQuote) looking for a $50K 20-year Term policy and I found that only ONE company offered me 20-years: Genworth. ALL the others wouldn't even give me 15 years, they only offered me a 10-year policy...and these companies didn't even have the lab results (blood/urine analysis) that Genworth had done on me.

So I took the Genworth offer with no hesitation at all.

So I'd say YES, you CAN do much better, probably cut your payments in half monthly. UNLESS, that is, you have some health issue that's costing you that much a month ($100) for only $48K, something's definitely wrong with what you've been paying the last 25 years.

I found that when I started looking the concensus I discovered was that a man my age would pay about $100/month for every $100K in Term Life coverage no mater what company I looked at. So already knowing this is what it'd cost me each month -- in my case $50/month for $50K as per what amount of coverage I was looking for -- I went shopping online for Term Life. When the other companies wouldn't offer my a 20 or even 15 years (I guess they didn't think I'd live 20 years and they didn't want to pay off) but Genworth DID offer me a 20-year policy at $48.xx a month, I jumped on it. After some more questions wer asked and they had looked at the lab results done on me, they upped the monthly premium $7. Okay with me.

A man in his late 50s is going to have problems getting a long-term policy probably just due to his age. And any excess weight, blood-pressure, chloresterol, smoking, previous heart problems, etc., make it even harder, they won't insure you AT ALL or they will charge you high premiums if they do. I had a bit high chloresterol level but not too high, no blood-pressure issues and I don't smoke -- never did. Do not have diabetes or any history of cancer or heart problems in the family, etc.

So try shopping around on the Internet again...

As for VA insurance, it's isn't very much coverage at all AND you have to be rated for a NEW disability, not get an increased rating for an already-existing disability, and you have 2 years to apply when you get a new rating. So, if you have some disability you have not yet filed for, AND you don't mind "rocking the boat" opening up ALL your claims for possible reevaluation -- like TDIU, one reason lots of vets don't file claims anymore after getting TDIU -- then you could file for another disability and if granted it, you can then get I believe $10K in VA life insurance...even free, IIRC, due to being TDIU/P&T.

Good luck,

-- John D.

I was awarded tdiu in 1999 and t&p 2 years later. I have had a va disability since 1963. My question is, is it past the time for me to get the insurance that was possible after I received t&p. I did not know that I could apply for it after a new disability. Also, can anyone tell me if I can apply for insurance thru the goverment now. I am paying over 100.00 a month for 48,000 of life insurance. If I could beat this, I would drop the policy i have had for 25 years. I am 68 years old and in fair shape, I guess, who knows. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

Edited September 12, 2007 by cloudcroft

[john999]

I think age 50 is one of the factors in life insurance. I got a $250,000 15 year term for about $700 bucks a year just before I turned 50. I had insurance through my employer, but it increased dramatically after age 50. If you don't have dependents what do you need a lot of insurance for? Life insurance is not supposed to bury you, but is supposed to provide for dependents to replace your income. Do you get a dividend? Most old policies have dividends that eventually pay for the premium. If you could get disabled vet insurance you could get up to 30,000 bucks worth I think, but only the first 10,000 is free if you are TDIU. I am playing the odds that I will live until I am 62 so my wife can get DIC but die before I am 65 so she can get the 250,000. At least when she is spending it she may have fond memories of me....I hope. Those are bad odds come to think of it.

[cloudcroft]

John,

Some people don't have dependents -- kids or a wife -- but still want life insurance for other reasons.

Yes, dependents still at home (or a wife) is the most common reason but not the only reason.

-- John D.

I think age 50 is one of the factors in life insurance. I got a $250,000 15 year term for about $700 bucks a year just before I turned 50. I had insurance through my employer, but it increased dramatically after age 50. If you don't have dependents what do you need a lot of insurance for? Life insurance is not supposed to bury you, but is supposed to provide for dependents to replace your income. Do you get a dividend? Most old policies have dividends that eventually pay for the premium. If you could get disabled vet insurance you could get up to 30,000 bucks worth I think, but only the first 10,000 is free if you are TDIU. I am playing the odds that I will live until I am 62 so my wife can get DIC but die before I am 65 so she can get the 250,000. At least when she is spending it she may have fond memories of me....I hope. Those are bad odds come to think of it.

[LarryJ]

for an example, I want to leave a little money to an organization (Masons) that I have belonged to for 40 years. Life insurance is the way I decided to do so.