Can you have more than one life insurance policy? How many insurance policies can one person have? It is absolutely possible to have more than one life insurance policy. The reality is that there are people who have multiple insurance policies – from several of the best life insurance companies in the USA.
They may have one life insurance policy from their employer as well as a personal or individual life insurance policy. You aren’t limited to only 2 life insurance policies either. There are a variety of reasons why people would try and secure more coverage. Let’s find out why you may (or may not) need additional coverage.
Can I Apply To Multiple Insurance Companies At One Time?
You can, but it isn’t recommended. Here’s why. While technically you can put in several applications to multiple companies – it’s going to slow down the approval process. The reason?
Life insurance companies request a lot of information when you apply for life insurance. One of the big ones is from the Medical Information Bureau. Also known as the MIB, it logs all of your life insurance applications. One of the reasons companies use the MIB is to make sure you’re not over insured.
Let’s say you apply with three different life insurance companies because you’re trying to get the best deal. You actually may get declined from all of them! It’s because their underwriters may look at it like you’re trying to get 3xs the coverage that is appropriate for your income. More than likely, you wouldn’t get denied – but it would delay the approvals until everything is figured out.
The Best Way to Apply for Multiple Companies
You can easily avoid the nightmare above by working with an independent insurance agent like Life Insurance Blog. We make finding the best company easy. You can look at us like your personal life insurance shopper who searches for the best companies for your specific situation.
Here’s how we help you:
- We use a network of over 60 life insurance companies to get you the best life insurance policy.
- You’ll get your own agent from start to finish. Your agent will help you apply with the best company based on your particular goals and details.
- You avoid the stress of having your application denied or delayed.
- What if your initial application doesn’t work out? (Maybe your initial quote was approved at a higher price because of the exam or underwriting results)
- No problem. We simply reach out to our network of companies to see who will give the best offer. The best part? You won’t have to go through another paramedical exam!
Can You Have More Than One Life Insurance Policy?
Now we know that applying to more than one life insurance company isn’t a good idea. However, it is ok to buy more than one life insurance policy. Here are the situations where multiple life insurance policies make sense.
1. Business
You might be looking for additional coverage in order to cover a small business loan or several other scenarios. For example, collateral assignment, key person, and buy sell agreements. These are just a few of the reasons an additional business life insurance policy would be needed.
2. Estate Planning
You may have a term and long term coverage goals. For example, you would buy one term life policy to cover short term goals and a permanent life insurance policy for estate planning.
3. You Need Additional Coverage
Your coverage needs can change several times throughout your life. It often makes sense to purchase an additional plan to cover the specific change. For example, you recently bought a new home. A new home to cover your mortgage may make sense instead of increasing the coverage of your previous policy.
Can I Get More Coverage by Buying From Multiple Companies?
You can’t increase your coverage or insurability by trying to buy life insurance from multiple companies. It doesn’t matter if you buy a single policy or several. It won’t matter if if you purchase from one company or many. The total coverage amount that you can purchase must make sense based on your income and finances. Your coverage amount or death benefit is designed to cover the financial loss that would occur when you die.
Case Study
I had a nice lady contact me looking for a $1 million life insurance policy. I went through the underwriting qualification questions with her. She was very healthy, but her financial situation didn’t warrant a million dollar policy. She didn’t have any debts – but her annual income was $12,000. I explained that it was very unlikely that she would be approved this amount. “I can afford the policy,” she explained. Fast forward a few weeks after the application was submitted: She was approved, but not for $1 million – She was approved for $250,000. Her result would have been the same if she applied with multiple companies. Remember, life insurance companies use the MIB report to see if you’re applying with multiple carriers.
How Many Life Insurance Policies Can I Buy?
The bottom line is that you can buy multiple life insurance policies. You can own as many as you like just so they total a reasonable coverage amount. The number that you buy won’t really alarm the companies you apply with. It’s the total coverage amount that may raise some eyebrows. As a general rule, your total life insurance coverage amount shouldn’t be over 20 to 30 times your annual income.
Life Insurance Questions?
We’re here to help you no matter your situation. At Life Insurance Blog, we have access to all the top life insurance companies. We never try to push you towards one company because our network has over 60 carriers. Our knowledgable independent agents will help you through the qualifying guidelines to find the best and most affordable policy for your life insurance goals.
It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for term life, permanent life or a combo of both, we’ll find you the best possible deal for YOUR exact situation — Including multiple life insurance policies! Thanks for reading our post about having multiple life insurance policies. If you’d like to learn more interesting facts on life insurance make sure to visit our post about life insurance policy secrets.
