Coventry First: Seniors Want Agents To Mention Life Settlements

By Staff Writer

April 22, 2003 at 08:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, April 22, 2003, 11:34 a.m. EDT – Many older adults want life insurance agents to tell them about life settlements, according to Coventry First L.L.C., Fort Washington, Pa.

Coventry First and other life settlement companies pay insureds for the right to collect life insurance policy death benefits.

Coventry First recently hired National Research L.L.C., Washington, to ask older adults about their attitudes toward life settlements. The researchers used telephone interviews to survey 275 adults over age 64 who own individual life insurance policies with face values over $100,000.

Only 19% of the survey participants were interested in learning more about life settlements, and only 14% were interested in selling their own policy rights through a life settlement. But 86% told researchers that life insurance agents should tell clients about life settlements as an alternative to letting policies lapse or surrendering policies for cash value, Coventry First says.

Ninety percent of the seniors who said they would consider selling policy rights told researchers that they would first seek advice from a life insurance agent, attorney, accountant or other financial advisor, Coventry First says.

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