OREANDA-NEWS. August 24, 2015. Did you know that there are life insurance benefits you may be able to take advantage of without dying?

It’s true!

Life insurance is an amazing product, and a feature known as the Accelerated Death Benefit can make it even more valuable than most people realize.

The concept behind the Accelerated Death Benefit is simple: under certain circumstances, your life insurance company can give you a cash advance against your death benefit.  You can use the money to cover medical bills, pay for a family vacation or otherwise make the most of the time you have left.

Some life insurance policies include an Accelerated Death benefit rider automatically.  On others, it’s an optional add-on feature (called a rider) you may have to pay extra for.  Every insurance company does things differently.

 “I’ll never forget that phone call from his wife…”

The Accelerated Death Benefit can provide tremendous relief during a very difficult time. 

In the video below, Howard Weissman, one of the experienced professionals here at AccuQuote, shares a touching story that shows the how big an impact this benefit can have on a family.

An Accelerated Death Benefit Rider may provide Living Benefits if the Insured is diagnosed with a:

  1. Terminal Illness
  2. Chronic Illness
  3. Critical Illness

Terminal illness has been an Accelerated Death Benefit feature on both term and permanent  life insurance policies for many years, while Chronic and Critical Illness have been added primarily to permanent life insurance policies during the past few years.   Very few term life policies offer Chronic and Critical illness as Accelerated Death Benefit riders.  That will probably change in the coming years. 

Call us at 800-442-9899 to find out if your current coverage has an Accelerated Death Benefit feature.  We’ll review your policy for free!

Let’s discuss briefly these little-known features.

1.     Terminal Illness

Terminally Ill means that the Insured has a medical condition, resulting from bodily injury or disease, or both, which is expected to result in death within 12 months of diagnosis (most insurance companies go by 12 months).   This is the most common accelerated death benefit feature available in life insurance policies nowadays, and has been around for many years.

The video above talks about a terminal illness scenario.

2.     Chronic Illness

Chronically Ill means that the Insured is unable to perform, without substantial assistance from another person, at least two out of the six “Activities of Daily Living” (Eating, Bathing, Dressing, Toileting, Transferring, the ability to stand up, walk across the room and sit back down, or Continence, which is the ability to control bladder or bowel movements) or requires substantial supervision by another person due to Severe Cognitive Impairment.   This assistance is often referred to as long-term care – and it is EXPENSIVE.

About 70% of people over the age of 65 will need access to long-term care at some point. 

3.     Critical Illness

Critically Ill generally means that the Insured has been diagnosed with one or more of the following health conditions (this definition can vary slightly among insurance companies):

  • heart attack
  • stroke
  • cancer
  • end stage renal failure
  • major organ transplant
  • amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
  • blindness
  • paralysis.

The Accelerated Death Benefit can keep you from becoming a burden on your family when you begin having trouble taking care of yourself.  It may also protect you and/or your family from depleting your savings and going broke!