Paclife: Special Report
Underwriting Updates: COVID-19
Pacific Life continues to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic, and through it all, we are committed to supporting your needs as you service your clients during this extraordinary time. The following guideline changes are temporary and intended to assist your clients in getting the life insurance protection they need without significant delays.
Important Note: This reflects an update to our March 30, 2020 communication.
Revising Age Limits
We are now able to extend offers to PL Promise GUL* applicants who areaged 71-75 at Standard or better risk class.
As previously communicated, for applicants that meet either of the following criteria, we are temporarily postponing acceptance of PL Promise Term applications:
- Individuals aged 71 and older; or
- Individuals of any age rated worse than a Table Four.
We will not accept any new applications meeting the criteria until the temporary restrictions are lifted.
*Check with your BGA for product availability.
Important Note: The content below this point is consistent with our March 30, 2020 communication.
Temporary Underwriting Requirement Adjustments
There may be situations where we are unable to obtain traditional medical requirements due to either vendor closure or limited staff. In those circumstances, we’re temporarily offering an alternative to underwriting for pending or newly submitted formal applications.
For applicants that meet all the following criteria, Pacific Life will use other available data sources to underwrite in lieu of in-person exams:
Applicants must be age 60 or younger.
Face amounts up to $1 million.
Standard or better risk classifications only. Applicants with a rating below standard will require normal exam requirements.
If we are unable to get adequate data from the data sources, Pacific Life may require traditional underwriting methods. Please contact us for more information, as this will be on a case-by-case basis.
Underwriting Vendor Updates
Current social distancing requirements are changing how we complete underwriting requirements. As the situation quickly shifts, we are closely monitoring announcements from our underwriting vendors as well as local and state governments. To see the most up-to-date operational status of our underwriting requirements vendors, you can access the “COVID-19 Vendor Status Report” available on http://producerbay.pacificlife.com/ in the “Featured News” section or by bookmarking this link: http://www.marketing.pacificlife.com/documents/MasterLinks/COVID-19VendorStatus-external.pdf.
Paramed Exam Process Updates
To promote the safety of your clients as well as the medical examiners, when scheduling appointments to complete paramed exams, our vendors will ask whether—within the last 14 days—the applicant has exhibited signs of fever or respiratory distress, traveled to a travel ban country, or has had close contact with someone who has. If the applicant provides any information that indicates possible exposure, the appointment will be rescheduled 15 or more days out. During the call to access the applicant’s potential exposure, the examiner will also clearly confirm the same information for themselves, so that your clients can be assured the examiner has not been exposed.
Temporary Underwriting Guidelines
Applicants Traveling From Travel-Ban Countries—If an applicant has traveled from one of the travel-ban countries as found at the U.S. Department of State (Travel.State.Gov), a 30-day delay period will apply:
After the 30-day delay period, if the individual tests negative for COVID-19 and is cleared, an application may be submitted or a policy delivered.
After the 30-day delay period, if the individual tests positive for COVID-19, a statement must be received from a physician stating the virus has been cleared and is required prior to submitting an application or delivering a policy.
A Certificate of Health or Good Health Statement is required on delivery for either of the following:
Applicants age 60 and older if the face amount is $250,000 or higher.
All rated policies, regardless of age or face amount.
Ongoing Support and Service
We are supporting our employees by ensuring they are set up to work in a safe and effective work-from-home environment and are pleased to report that our work force is fully operational in a remote capacity. You may experience additional wait time as you call to talk with a representative from Pacific Life, but know we are answering calls and are available to answer your questions.
Grace Period Extensions
To further assist policyholders, Pacific Life is complying with all applicable state disaster relief regulations and bulletins. This includes grace period extensions for impacted policyholders. If your clients are experiencing a hardship and having difficulty paying their premium due to the COVID-19 pandemic, please have them call our customer service representatives to discuss options.
Policy Delivery
Pacific Life offers the ability to deliver policies electronically using our intuitive and easy-to-use, in-house ePolicy Delivery solution. Throughout the electronic process, all participants are notified of to-do tasks, status, and issues via email. With ePolicy Delivery, customers can:
Review policy package, delivery requirements and payment plan
Complete the payment plan for initial premium and recurring payments
eSign all necessary documents
Return delivery requirements
Minimize re-issue delays
Request delivery extensions electronically.
Claims
We have received several inquiries about how claims related to COVID-19 will be administered. Pacific Life insurance policies do not contain an exclusion for pandemics. All claims received will be processed in accordance with our normal procedures.
Thank you
We appreciate your patience and understanding during these unusual times. Pacific Life will continue to be here for you, long through and beyond this period, and for whatever the future holds. Please feel free to contact your Pacific Life representative with any questions. You may also contact the Sales Desk at (844) 238-4872, Option 3 or LynInternalSales@PacificLife.com.
To ensure you and your producers have the most current information, check the Producer Bay website regularly by clicking on the link: http://producerbay.pacificlife.com/. If you have questions or trouble accessing the Producer Bay website, please contact us at LynDistributorServices@PacificLife.com or (844) 238-4872.