Clients are understandably uncomfortable submitting some sensitive information to a life insurance carrier, including their social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, income, net worth, etc. All of this information is critical for life insurance to be processed, both at the time of application and also in the event of a death claim.

For example, your social security number is required for the application for several reasons. It uniquely identifies you, which is important in the event of a death claim. The company needs to be absolutely certain that the claimant is who they say they are, and your social security number is the means by which they do that. This number also identifies your medical record.

As another example, the carrier determines the type of offer to make based on lifestyle patterns and a valuable piece of information to them is your driving record, hence the need for your driver’s license number.

They are also bound in how much coverage they can extend based on your income and net worth. The carrier is generally willing to offer up to 10-14x your income, or an equivalent in a metric for net worth they use. Carriers, for example, would not understand the need for someone to purchase $5,000,000 of life insurance if they make $50,000 / year. They would see this amount of insurance as suspect and beyond a ‘reasonable insurable interest’; with legislation like “Anti-Money Laundering” laws on the books, carriers are simply unwilling to extend coverage which seems out of line. It is rare that tax records would be solicited. This is just a normal part of any purchase of any financial instrument of this nature and we hope that with this explanation there will be less concern.