Banner Life
Banner Life Insurance Company, one of the Legal & General America companies, has introduced 10, 15 and 20 year level term riders that can be laddered on its OPTerm policy base plans. Banner’s no-lapse guarantee portfolio, Life Choice UL, Life Change UL and Life Step UL plans, now allow for a partial surrender benefit.
College funding, mortgage payoff and income replacement can be addressed in the rider coverage—a 10-year plan for the college funding costs of teenagers, a 20-year plan to retire a mortgage, and a 30-year plan for income replacement. This strategy lowers the overall cost of initial coverage and helps the client buy the total amount needed today.
The cost reduction comes from the elimination of policy fees on the riders. Coverage and premiums drop off as the rider coverage expires. Rider premiums are banded and use the same rate scale as OPTerm policies, based on the face amount of each individual rider. The riders are separately convertible while in force. Lower issue age maximums apply to the riders: age 50 for the 20 year rider, 55 for the 15 year, and 60 for the 10 year.
Also effective now, an endorsement will be issued with all Life Choice UL, Life Change UL and Life Step UL plans (where available) that allows the policyowner to effect a partial surrender of the cash surrender value. The specified amount, guaranteed cash values and coverage guarantee account are reduced proportionately; the guaranteed premium requirement is similarly reduced. The remaining specified amount must satisfy the minimum for the contract, and Section 7702 constraints must be followed.
