AIG - American General Life Insurance Company - American Internation Group, Cancelled our policy after 23 years because we did not get a bill. Houston Texas
AIG said we let my husband's term insurance lapse which we have been paying on for 23 years. But the truth of the matter is, we didn't cancel the policy, and it wasn't that we couldn't make the payments. The issue is, we get a bill once per year, and on two occasions, a few years apart, we did not receive a bill. Since I pay bills when they come in, I missed a payment the first time after (about twenty years of steady money infusion), and they sent a grace period reminder. I sent money in right away. (This policy takes the money I pay in and applies it monthly to the term insurance premium. If the funding runs low, they advise me and I send more money.)
This second time, I did not receive a bill from them, and no grace period notification, no registered letter, no e-mail notification. But the letter I DID receive said the policy had already lapsed!!! Over and done with! If we wanted re-instatement, fill out this form and send it in with money.
Sounds okay, right? But they wanted all kinds of health questions answered and the name of my husband's doctor. Now they get to evaluate him all over again to decide if they want to reinstate him!!!! How many people are in the same great health at 63 as they were at 40? This is a really rotten way of getting rid of people who have developed any health issues. They get to keep approximately $35,000 worth of premiums and tell us, "Oh well, you just don't qualify anymore".
What gives them the right to re-evaluate a person after 23 years of premiums? And to top it off, my husband has NO life-threatening conditions! No heart problems, no respiratory problems, no high blood pressure, no cancer. He does have a kidney stone, (big deal), an enlarged prostate, (what 63 year-old guy doesn't?), and a nerve condition that makes his hands and wrists weak, (an inconvenience, but by no means will it kill him), arthritis in his back and a touch of IBS.
We get to register a complaint, but they have the right to ignore it.
What about our $35,000? We get NOTHING to show for it? And their customer service can't even give you answers, you can't talk to anyone of importance, and none of their correspondence gives you anyone's name to appeal to. It's like trying to communicate with the Wizard of Oz !
Be aware, this big gristmill of the insurance industry will try to eat you up and spit you out without blinking an eye. They don't care anything about you as a customer. It will no doubt take the Attorney General and the Insurance Board to get involved to get a rise out of them. And then, who knows? There is no way we could afford to apply for new insurance at my husban's curren age of 63 years old! Think about it. This could happen to anyone.
Barbara
Batavia, Ohio
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Notsugarcoated
Lehigh Acres,Florida,
U.S.A.
People need to understand that Term is like "renting"
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, April 15, 2010
With all due respect, the first thing that popped into my mind was, THIS IS A TERM POLICY LADY!!! You've been paying on it for 23 years and you've paid $35,000 dollars. I feel for you. But what you must understand, and I'm an insurance agent, is that Term Life is like "Renting" an apartment. You don't have any equity, like if you owned a house, that would be Whole Life (with cash value). My point is that the longest Term Life policy that I've sold is 35 years. Yes, if you're husband died a month after the company says that the policy lapsed, this is a tragedy and you should really hire an attorney, however, with a term policy, the coverage is only for a specified period of time, hence, term anyways! If your husband got the policy when he was 40 and the Term Life is for 35 years, but he dies at the age of 80 you would be in the exact same predicament. People need to understand, that Term is really only good when you want high coverage amounts for lower premiums in order to protect specific things i.e. mortgage, college tuitions for the children, for a specific amount of time, however, if you want something to show for all the premiums and you want permanence then you need to instead purchase either a Whole Life or Universal Life policy with cash value.
Thank you.
-Michael
Insurance Help Line
North Hollywood,California,
U.S.A.
It is not tooo late
#5Consumer Suggestion
Thu, July 10, 2008
I'm a licensed insurance agent contracted with AIG. You can still re-instate your policy by resubmitting payment and simply filling out a "Short Health Statement" or as AIG likes to call it "PHS".
I doubt that they will re-evaluate his health again, if his policy lapsed within the term period he should still be able to reinstate with his guaranteed premium. I worked with AIG for many years, they are a mess but still a very strong company with very affordable plans. They lack in customer service, most of their inside reps don't know what's happening most of the time.
FYI. I am not employed by AIG, I hold contracts with them and other "A" Rated companies in the US.
Insurance Help Line
North Hollywood,California,
U.S.A.
It is not tooo late
#5Consumer Suggestion
Thu, July 10, 2008
I'm a licensed insurance agent contracted with AIG. You can still re-instate your policy by resubmitting payment and simply filling out a "Short Health Statement" or as AIG likes to call it "PHS".
I doubt that they will re-evaluate his health again, if his policy lapsed within the term period he should still be able to reinstate with his guaranteed premium. I worked with AIG for many years, they are a mess but still a very strong company with very affordable plans. They lack in customer service, most of their inside reps don't know what's happening most of the time.
FYI. I am not employed by AIG, I hold contracts with them and other "A" Rated companies in the US.
Insurance Help Line
North Hollywood,California,
U.S.A.
It is not tooo late
#5Consumer Suggestion
Thu, July 10, 2008
I'm a licensed insurance agent contracted with AIG. You can still re-instate your policy by resubmitting payment and simply filling out a "Short Health Statement" or as AIG likes to call it "PHS".
I doubt that they will re-evaluate his health again, if his policy lapsed within the term period he should still be able to reinstate with his guaranteed premium. I worked with AIG for many years, they are a mess but still a very strong company with very affordable plans. They lack in customer service, most of their inside reps don't know what's happening most of the time.
FYI. I am not employed by AIG, I hold contracts with them and other "A" Rated companies in the US.