Posted by Mike Smith :: April 9, 2009 @ 6:31 am

Towards the end of last year, I advised comparing prices between the benefits offered by your company and those available directly from providers. In my case, the cost of life insurance was significantly cheaper when buying it directly from an insurer. Now that I’ve finished setting up my insurance, I thought I’d describe the process to everyone.

It started out by getting a quote online. You can use one of many different websites, but I chose to compare prices with Accuquote. By filling out one form, the site showed me the prices offered by many different insurers. Since term life insurance is basically the same product regardless of where you buy it, it’s easy to compare prices. Once I decided on the best quote, my formal application was submitted.

The next business day I received a phone call confirming that my application had been received, verifying some critical information, and trying to up-sell me for more coverage. I didn’t bite on that last issue and my application was sent to me by mail.

While I was waiting for the application to arrive, I received a call from a mobile medical service provider to schedule an appointment. The representative offered to come to my home or office. I signed the paperwork when it arrived and gave it to the nurse who came to my house. She administered a simple blood test and checked my blood pressure, which were also part of the application process. Even for someone who usually gets a little lightheaded at the doctor’s office, having the blood drawn in my home was as pleasant an experience as possible. The nurse reviewed the questions in the application, took my credit card information (I used a temporary Shopsafe account number), and left. The entire process took about 30 minutes.

That was it. It would have been marginally easier to continue my life insurance coverage through my employer, since my company didn’t require any type of medical examination, but the process was so simple that I’m glad I went through with it. The fact that the coverage is significantly less expensive also made the decision easy.

Often we pay more for the convenience of the known, even though the unknown ends up being just as simple. For me, life insurance fit this description, but you may find other instances in your life that also fit. You owe it to yourself to look into these cases to ensure you never overpay.

Have you found better prices for benefits from sources other than your employer?