life insurance for tree men

[Plasmech]

Regardless of whether or not I can call myself a tree man, my life insurance company is probably going to. What will this mean for my rates? Will they skyrocket? Need some advice from the village elders here. Thanks!

 

[treemandan]

I've never had life insurance. Wish I could help.

No life ins? Is that true?

 

[Plasmech]

My wife has been on my case about it.

 

[Tree Pig]

My wife has been on my case about it.

Uh oh if you catch her in the kitchen coring a bunch of apples and saving the seeds look out.

 

[tree md]

I don't carry it either... I always thought it was like betting on myself dieing...

 

[Treecutr]

If you care about your kids and family, you should have life insurance. My dad refused to get it for years, now hes too old ( 75 ) and finally listened to me that a lot of his debt will be passed on not just go away when he dies. I have $400,000, through military because of having to go to war regular life insurance won't pay for acts of war, so I stick with it.

 

[IcePick]

for about two hundred bucks a year, around five bucks a week will get you a one hundred thousand dollar policy through AFLAC. I've got that and I have a policy through my medical insurance company. It makes me feel good knowing if something happens to me my little one will still get a chance to go to college and have some sort of security.

 

[RVALUE]

If you care about your kids and family, you should have life insurance. My dad refused to get it for years, now hes too old ( 75 ) and finally listened to me that a lot of his debt will be passed on not just go away when he dies. I have $400,000, through military because of having to go to war regular life insurance won't pay for acts of war, so I stick with it.

With a declining market in real estate values, this becomes even more important. I had a friend that his family went from "tip top" to the very bottom from lack of insurance. And they are still there.

 

[treemandan]

My wife has been on my case about it.

It was a stipulation before we got married that I should be so endowed as to be able to pay someone to clean up the mess I leave behind. Plus I have a kid.

But at this point for about a month I have lost my policy. Going through the rigamaroll to obtain a sound policy takes some work... first I gotta sober up.
Mention tree and they will not approve the policy in some case or it just adds a steeper premium. Usually a company will take blood and have you fill the application out then they process it THEN they tell you if they will accept you.
I need to get a will as well. If you have a big enough estate ( savings) you don't need the ins but if you don't have enough money you pay your debts when you die for any reason they expect your spouse to pay.

 

[Blakesmaster]

I don't carry it either... I always thought it was like betting on myself dieing...

That's the way I look at it. Suppose it would be different if I had kids though.

 

[treeman82]

I've got a 250K policy and pay about $20 per month. They don't care about the fact that I am an arborist, however they do care about smoking, drinking, family medical history, etc.

 

[Taxmantoo]

if you don't have enough money you pay your debts when you die for any reason they expect your spouse to pay.

In most states, they can expect all they want, but she should just tell them to go pounds sand. Lots of collection agencies like to coerce payment out of people who aren't responsible for a debt, they should get a nice federal lawsuit (google FDCPA) instead of payment.

All the debts will be a claim against your estate. You should leave spouse/kids enough insurance to redeem the loans on anything you need them to keep (house/car/etc) and to keep them fed for as long as you think they might need it.

 

[pdqdl]

A viable option for folks that are only worried about debt would be to check the little box on every loan that authorizes addition of a "credit life" coverage to the loan. I adds a fee, raises the cost of a loan, and generally costs more than life insurance. But it pays the loan if you croak.

When my dad was dying, he went out and got a 17k loan, signed up for credit life. He figured he couldn't get any life insurance, but he could at least pay off some debt and manage to leave something. It worked.

 

[ashburg]

Hey Guys - newb here, but in a past life, I was very heavy into life insurance sales on a brokerage level. Currently, and in the past 5 years, I have built a landscape maintenance company (hence my presence here) and we're getting into tree work a little at a time...

Life Insurance for Tree Workers - *don't fret I won't try to sell you any* - whether you are approved or not, whether you can afford the rate that what-ever company gives you a policy, for the sake of the value of it all and for the sake of your would be beneficiaries:

During the application process, make sure that you fully and explicitly disclose every climb you have done or anticipate doing from as far back as 5 years and as far forward as 2 years.

If you don't, your "claim" can be denied if you die.

What good would that do? If you pay into a policy, waste your money, and your spouse or beneficiary gets denied any $$

How to make sure you have a water tight deal with the company: don't let your agent schmooze your way past underwriting on the app or during the application process. Some agents will downright lie or leave things out, knowing that you might not bite when you see the hiked up premium due to the fact that you are-indeed-a-high-risk. As a matter of fact, have your agent submit an addendum to the app to be seen by the underwriter and attached to the contract...this way, they can not claim that you did not disclose in full. The claims that are scrutinized the most are the cases that were deemed to be an "accident"...these companies have teams of people who's job it is to make sure you have a valid claim and that you disclosed everything you do in life upon application.

From an underwriting standpoint, yes, as a climber/tree worker you are a significantly higher risk and will merit a significantly higher premium. Can you get a policy - yes...but at a much higher rate than a standard risk, I guarantee that.

Gentlemen, I hope this helps - I'm going to ask you about harnesses in a minute and I just felt like this was my opportunity to attempt to give back and contribute...hope I'm not out of place

best regards,
ash

 

[Blakesmaster]

Good information ash, and welcome.

 

[Toddppm]

During the application process, make sure that you fully and explicitly disclose every climb you have done or anticipate doing from as far back as 5 years and as far forward as 2 years.

If you don't, your "claim" can be denied if you die.

ash

Fully disclose every climb? What? How is this possible?

 

[ashburg]

Fully disclose every climb? What? How is this possible?

Yessir...but you can make broad statements if you do alot of climbing. Each statement would merit a different insurance rate depending upon frequency, height, etc:

Examples:

"In the past 5 years, I have done 4 climbs to a height of 100 ft"

"In the past 5 years, I was employed as a tree climber, at times reaching heights of 100 ft"

"In the past 2 years, I have done climbs now and then to a height of 25 feet"

"...worked for tree company for the past 10 years and plan on working there for the forseeable future"

"Dropped one tree 2 years ago, didn't like the work, so don't plan on doing it again any time in the future"

hope this helps

 

[Tree Machine]

I have life insurance for one million. The joke here at home is I'm worth more dead than alive.... if I fall and I'm not dead I gotta go back up and do it again, yea, yea, yea. She's not allowed to kill me, yet the threats are still pretty regular.

When I applied, a nurse was sent to my home for the health interview and to take blood samples. The family history interview was extensive and exhaustive, but never once did they ask what I did for a living. I went as far as to ask them if they wanted to know what I did for a living and they said I couldn't be denied, based on my chosen profession. This was good by me as at the time there were four other professions that were considered more dangerous.

My premium is around $750 per year. My rate is low because of low risk factors, good family genes I guess, and I don't smoke and my blood work came out clean and I didn't lie on anything in the interview. Plus, at the time (2004), I was young. Now, that's up for debate. They do a full reassessment at 10 years.

They ask about high-risk hobbies, though. SCUBA diving was out at the time, but I believe is OK now. Hang gliding was banned, paragliding, bungee jumping. I was thinking those things are rather gentle compared to what I do day to day.

Quite different than what ashburg is saying, and I would consider him an authority. I guess maybe it's different, state to state. I'm in Indiana.

 

[Tree Machine]

pdqdl, very sorry about your Dad. However, he's left us all with a really valuable tip to keep in mind. Thank you.

 

[ashburg]

I have life insurance for one million. The joke here at home is I'm worth more dead than alive.... if I fall and I'm not dead I gotta go back up and do it again, yea, yea, yea. She's not allowed to kill me, yet the threats are still pretty regular.

When I applied, a nurse was sent to my home for the health interview and to take blood samples. The family history interview was extensive and exhaustive, but never once did they ask what I did for a living. I went as far as to ask them if they wanted to know what I did for a living and they said I couldn't be denied, based on my chosen profession. This was good by me as at the time there were four other professions that were considered more dangerous.

My premium is around $750 per year. My rate is low because of low risk factors, good family genes I guess, and I don't smoke and my blood work came out clean and I didn't lie on anything in the interview. Plus, at the time (2004), I was young. Now, that's up for debate. They do a full reassessment at 10 years.

They ask about high-risk hobbies, though. SCUBA diving was out at the time, but I believe is OK now. Hang gliding was banned, paragliding, bungee jumping. I was thinking those things are rather gentle compared to what I do day to day.

Quite different than what ashburg is saying, and I would consider him an authority. I guess maybe it's different, state to state. I'm in Indiana.

TM - I would get a new policy if you want to be covered while doing tree work. They MIGHT pay if you died of, say, cancer (not exactly related to tree work), but then they might not - citing that perhaps the fumes from the chain saw contributed to a cancerous environment, who knows. At any rate, my gut is that you need a new policy, fully underwritten, paying the higher premiums or lowering your face amount to something more affordable.

good luck,