Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: The Trebek con

  1. #1
    I watch tv in nevada, just regular tv....like 9 stations for free. I dont pay for cable for the small amount of time I spend there.

    There is a station..METV....that play all these old sit coms....and I watch them when i am not out and about. And the Alex Trebec colonial penn commercial is on all day.

    he says that the average funeral costs over 8 thousands dollars....and for just 9.99 a month, just pennies a day....you can have the piece of mind in case of a death to pay for final expenses like funerals and outstanding bills blah blah blah

    So I check on my smart phone,to get a quote for someone my age.....on the site its 50-75 that I fall into.

    its 9.99 a month for a death benefit of 1000 (maybe its 9.95....not sure)

    but the simple math is...in about 8 years you have already paid for the 1000

    if i remember correctly in order to get a 8k death benefit...its around 69.99 a month

    this takes advantage of old folks that dont have a clue and thinks alex is just a wonderful knowledgeable person...it must be a good deal.

    shame on him. Its not like he needs the money. Maybe he should be a spokesperson for phillip morris as well

  2. #2
    Aren't you the one who thinks low level machine hustlers like me have problems?

    Anyway, you figured out the angle, nicely done. You're one step closer to being an AP.

    Is there a way this can be exploited? Yes. If you have good reason to believe that you will live fewer than eight years and four months, this has a positive expected value. The less time you expect to live, the better the value.

    It's actually a little less than eight years and four months when you factor in inflation, but you get the idea. Maybe if you expect to die in 7.5 years, or less, something like that.

  3. #3
    i would have to read the fine print. I am thinking that there is a waiting period....so that people who get notified they have 6 months to live cant run out and enroll and expect to collect. I dont know if that waiting periods is months or years.

    If you go online and read the customer reviews..you will see people complain that payment was denied for no real reason, and they had to jump trough hoops to finally get paid.(so much for the bullshit that its there if you need it to cover funeral expenses.....there is an immediacy implied here that may not be real)

    it all comes down to the fine print that people often do not read....especially when a trusted guy like alex is touting it. I think the whole thing stinks..

  4. #4
    I decided to get insurance for, "Your Mother," because I had to put a name in, here are the potentially disqualifying questions:

    Yes No Is the Proposed Insured currently disabled due to illness, confined to a hospital or nursing facility, or does the Proposed Insured require the use of a wheelchair?
    In the past 3 years, has the Proposed Insured been diagnosed or treated by a member of the medical profession for:
    Yes No Cancer, coronary artery disease, or any disease or disorder of the heart, brain or liver?
    Yes No Chronic kidney disease or kidney failure, muscular disease, mental or nervous disorder, chronic obstructive lung disease, drug or alcohol abuse, or hospitalized for diabetes?
    Yes No Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), AIDS Related Complex (ARC) or test results indicating exposure to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome virus?
    Yes No Does the Proposed Insured have any chronic illness or condition which requires periodic medical care or may require future surgery?
    Yes No In the past 10 years, has the Proposed Insured had his or her driver’s license suspended or revoked; been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony; or is the Proposed Insured currently incarcerated?
    Yes No Does the Proposed Insured intend to replace or change any existing life insurance policies or annuities in connection with this application? If yes, list company name:
    Anyway, it seems like you are good to go with no waiting period as long as you can say no to those. And honestly, I don't know how much prying they would do for only a few thousand. If you get $50,000 of insurance with them, there's going to be an adjuster on your doorstep the day after death to make sure all of those No's were actual No's, but for a couple thousand, it's not even worth sending him.

    So, if you're low income and you think your funeral will actually cost $8,000+, and you think you'll die in the next few years, just jump on a few of these sites (in my opinion) and grab $1,000 in insurance from each of them. It's cheaper just to pay out the $1,000 than it is to investigate the validity of the client's answers.

    The best part of this thread is when my ex-wife gets a Globe Life package sent to her house addressed to, "Your Mother." Let's hope she likes my sense of humor that day...it's about 50/50.

  5. #5
    they dont have to lift a finger to do any investigation. All they do is email you and have you obtain the proof. What senior citizen doesnt have some level of coronary arty disease...like hardening of the arteries.

    But the insurance company can just sit on their ass why they send you out to optain the proof. They dont need to hire investigators. They have the spouse or the children to run those errands if they want to be paid.

    and as they are provided witht he documents they asked for........then they can ask for other docs.....and at worst the company pays off the policy but was able to keep that money interest free that was your familie's property earning interest for the company while this plays out for thousands and thousands od people

  6. #6
    They can't make you prove a negative, is the thing. Even if they wanted to deny your payout, you would just sue them in small claims court (as the beneficiary) and you would be well under any jurisdictional maximums for small claims court that would cause it to go to any higher level court. Once again, it becomes cheaper for them just to pay you. If they don't want to pay you, then they would have to send someone to appear and defend in small claims court...but if they don't...the person suing them wins a default judgment due to the failure of the other party to show up.

    I don't know that they can force you to provide medical records at all without a court order, but even if they could, they couldn't force you to provide records that predate the policy. That's why more legitimate insurance companies for higher dollar amounts want to see that information beforehand, usually. The difference here is Globe Life is designed to be a rip off, but that also presents the opportunity to use their own angle against them. That's what AP's do at casinos.

    No, they have to pay based on the questions answered or it goes to small claims. If they want to defend not paying you in a small claims case, it's incumbent upon them to prove that you lied on the questions. The Plaintiff can certainly prove that Globe Life agreed to insure them for the monthly premium. They could subpoena any records that predate the policy, but again, you get into things that cost them more than $1,000 or even a couple thousand bucks to do.

    Depends on how soon you die. If you die within the first year, your value was terrific.

  7. #7
    Originally Posted by Mission146 View Post
    They can't make you prove a negative, is the thing. Even if they wanted to deny your payout, you would just sue them in small claims court (as the beneficiary) and you would be well under any jurisdictional maximums for small claims court that would cause it to go to any higher level court. Once again, it becomes cheaper for them just to pay you. If they don't want to pay you, then they would have to send someone to appear and defend in small claims court...but if they don't...the person suing them wins a default judgment due to the failure of the other party to show up.

    I don't know that they can force you to provide medical records at all without a court order, but even if they could, they couldn't force you to provide records that predate the policy. That's why more legitimate insurance companies for higher dollar amounts want to see that information beforehand, usually. The difference here is Globe Life is designed to be a rip off, but that also presents the opportunity to use their own angle against them. That's what AP's do at casinos.

    No, they have to pay based on the questions answered or it goes to small claims. If they want to defend not paying you in a small claims case, it's incumbent upon them to prove that you lied on the questions. The Plaintiff can certainly prove that Globe Life agreed to insure them for the monthly premium. They could subpoena any records that predate the policy, but again, you get into things that cost them more than $1,000 or even a couple thousand bucks to do.

    Depends on how soon you die. If you die within the first year, your value was terrific.
    YOU ARE NAIVE.
    all they have to do is have you get written statements from the doctors. It would be insurance fraud for a doctor to lie. So a doctor would have to say that there was no sign of coronary artery disease earlier before insurance policy was issued. Or that there was no kidney issues, or not suspicion of a brain tumor. Once you have a written doctor report answering the companies questions.....you may see the grounds for not paying you. There is alot of disease states that disqualify you.
    There are some old folks that may not even know the term coronary artery disease and may answer honestly with good intent that they dont have it...but they actually do to some degree. Even if its mild.....its grounds to dissallow payment.

    It would be rare if a person in their 60s and above didnt have one of those conditions mentioned.
    "any disease or disorder of the heart, brain or liver?"....are you kidding me

  8. #8
    It says, "Disease," "Diagnosed," and, "In the last three years."

    I think it's cute that you think doctors never lie to the benefit of their patients. YOU ARE NAIVE.

    Anyway, it has nothing to do with, "Before the policy was issued," and it doesn't have anything to do with, "No sign of," it has to do with whether or not the person in question was actually diagnosed with any of those things.

    I agree the terms suck, but if the person wasn't actually, "Diagnosed," then the answer is no.

  9. #9
    Originally Posted by Mission146 View Post
    It says, "Disease," "Diagnosed," and, "In the last three years."

    I think it's cute that you think doctors never lie to the benefit of their patients. YOU ARE NAIVE.

    Anyway, it has nothing to do with, "Before the policy was issued," and it doesn't have anything to do with, "No sign of," it has to do with whether or not the person in question was actually diagnosed with any of those things.

    I agree the terms suck, but if the person wasn't actually, "Diagnosed," then the answer is no.
    you are naive if you think a doctor is going to commit insurance fraud to get the wife of a patient 1000 dollars or 8000 dollars. Especially when people often have multiple doctors and a lie could be exposed by another doctor independently answering the same insuance company questionnaire. I had been asked as a pharmacist to falsify dates on receipts so someone can collect from an insurance company and never complied.What is the risk reward for that? Not good as far as being in my favor.

    And what would a doctor open himself up for in case he was sued for malpractice(you never know when someone will throw that at you). He tells an insurance comapny that the patient has no kidney disease...yet the person seemed to have kidney disease when she died.It makes the doctor look like he keeps poor record and may add to the notion that the dr was capable of malpractice.

    Alos, we live in a transient world. People move around the country, change jobs, change insurance, change doctors frequently. The days of growing up in your parents home townm, and going to the same MD for a lifetime to the point where the doctor knows you and your kids and your kids children.....is almost all gone. Healthcare has become a revolving door where doctors are actually told how much time they should maximumly be spending with patients before moving on to the next. Assembly line health care. Pharmacists are told how many Rxs they have to pump out per hour. There are more medical malpractice lawsuits now than in the 60;s and 70's because people are not familiar with their doctors like they used to be . They arent their lifetime doctor..they are just someone who treats them today. Not a lifetime health partner. So no.for the reasons above, doctors are not lying for their patients. First because they probably dont know their patients that well and secondly they know they are opening themselves up for problems if they do.

    Its a litigious society we live in and a small lie today can cost tens of thousands or even millions a year later.

    when someone dies they usually have more than one doctor.a general practitioner, a cardiologist, a urologist , gynecologist etc.....its quite easy to get a piece of info on a 69 year old woman or man with a list of specialists.that could disqualify them from receiving payment. Thats what this type of policy is all about...it pays little, and if you think you can exploit it....well think again....the list of exclusions seem to be wide sweeping. And a doctor, let alone a group of doctors are not going to in unison lie on the dead persons behalf in order tog et the family a few thousand dollars..or even 100, 000 dollars.

  10. #10
    We seem to be having a disconnect as to what the meaning of the word, "Diagnosed," is.

    Also, "Within the last three years," so if you get diagnosed AFTER you take out the insurance policy, the policy still has to pay out.

  11. #11
    yes and you were talking about using the system to your advantage. And I am saying just for that reason.......you cant jump on the insurance bandwagon if you were just diagnosed.

    And you left out..."diagnosed or treated"

    which means you could have a 19 year old condition that you have been treated over the last 3 years...... There is alot of wiggle room for a company to get out of paying

  12. #12
    I agree with that much, it would definitely be tougher if you were just diagnosed. It would also technically be insurance fraud on the part of the person taking out the policy if they knew they were diagnosed with such a thing and answered no.

    Although, there are some legal avenues available if they refuse to pay out. Unless there is a, "Forum Selection Clause," in the terms and conditions (which means Globe Life gets to choose the only jurisdiction in which you can sue them) then you can still take them to Small Claims for denying your claim. However, Globe Life would still have to have a representative appear in the Small Claims hearing to make the, "Forum Selection Clause," argument. I guess some Small Claims courts might allow them to file a Motion to Dismiss claiming the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction due to the Forum Selection Clause, but I'm aware of at least one small court where you just go in and argue stuff. The hearing is usually set for within thirty days of the suit being filed.

  13. #13
    Years ago I was told that the State with the best insurance rules to protect consumers was New York. The simple advice I got was never buy a life policy unless it is approved for sale in New York.

    Is this policy approved for New York State? That's my first question.

    Frankly the low limit policies that are guaranteed without medical exemption are really low limit. Here the insurance company is offering a loss leader. But they also know many consumers take out a policy, pay the first year premium and then stop paying.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •