When tragedy strikes, life insurance responds, helping survivors carry on with their lives financially. As valuable as a death benefit check is, many survivors face other hurdles as they learn to cope with their loss.
Anyone who has lost a loved one understands that grief continues long beyond the actual loss. It's not unrealistic to expect the process to extend for a year. The five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance—can take over a year to complete. Sometimes, even longer.[1]
Emotional stress is just part of what survivors experience. Too often, legal issues surface, as well. More than half of the time, there is no will.[2] Even when one is in place, the probate process may be daunting for survivors. If families have no relationship with a lawyer, they may not even know where to begin the process.
Financial management issues can also arise. Consider a survivor who, for years, relied on a spouse to handle family financial matters. He or she may be thoroughly ill-prepared to assume such tasks after the partner's death.
Clearly, the traditional cash payment from a life insurance policy provides a foundation for beneficiaries, but products today build upon this by offering enhanced services that help survivors through difficult times after the loss of a loved one.
Beneficiary Resource Services™—Support that Helps Survivors Cope
The knowledge of what beneficiaries may face formed the basis for work we've done to enhance our own group life product. Beneficiary Resource Services[3] is an integral part of our group life insurance offering that helps beneficiaries and their families deal with grief, financial management and legal issues. It also offers an online funeral planning resource.
Legal counseling is a key component of Beneficiary Resource Services. Anyone who has ever had to settle an estate knows the challenges involved. Often, the whole process is totally unfamiliar. The beneficiary doesn't know what to do or how to do it. Being able to access free legal services, on the phone and/or in person, can go a long way in helping someone through the process.
Financial management support is another facet of the service. When a death occurs, people end up with a lump sum of money and may have no idea how to manage it. More often than not, money is the last thing on their minds. For individuals without experience in handling financial matters, and for those who aren't in a position to focus on money issues, telephone and/or in-person financial management counseling can be a tremendous help.
Grief counseling, a third part of the package, may be most valuable. This part of Beneficiary Resource Services can help employees handle the emotional aspects of losing a loved one by offering access to a master-level clinician for up to a year following the loss. Of course, handling the loss of a loved one is difficult from an emotional standpoint. Unfortunately, physical symptoms—everything from low energy or exhaustion to upset stomachs, irritability and depression—may appear, as well. When this happens, the impact can reach into the workplace. Counseling helps employees manage personal responsibilities that, left unaddressed, could well affect work performance.
The employer benefit goes beyond a productivity boost. How? Just ask a business owner who gets "the call." That call, of course, is the one that comes in from a grief-stricken employee or an employee's spouse to communicate a loss. Just think how much better it would be for an employer to be able to share his or her concern for the employee and then soft-transfer the call to a professional who understands grief issues and can offer on-the-spot counseling.
Online Funeral Planning offers a range of information from pre-funeral checklists and information on different religious customs to cost estimators and a locator service for various types of providers. Planning for death is something few people want to consider. Plus, with families more decentralized than ever, many employees are taking on the responsibility, perhaps for the first time, of handling a loved one's arrangements. These resources help.
Helping to Plan
Offerings in addition to Beneficiary Resource Services are also available to help brokers enhance the group life contract. Online Will Preparation[4] is a benefit that can meet a pressing need for all types of employees, but especially for younger workers who are statistically less inclined to have a will. The interactive tool leads users through an interview process that helps them identify what needs to be part of a will. The end product is a legal document that compares favorably to wills produced by leading online legal services providers.
Another feature popular with many employers is Online Beneficiary Management. This enables employees to update life insurance beneficiary records online. This service time-stamps and tracks all activity, which is useful in situations where beneficiary challenges occur. Employers also benefit by eliminating the need of having internal staff handle updates, and by trading paper records for the benefit of off-site, secure storage of all beneficiary information.
As we know, brokers and others in our business take great satisfaction knowing that we help survivors cope with the loss of a loved one. It's even more gratifying to do more than simply put a check in someone's hand, and instead provide practical resources that can hold that hand—before or after the inevitable happens. The Dearborn National group life insurance contract goes beyond offering a benefit payment—it provides services that enhance the offering for brokers, employers and employees.
[1] Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth, M.D. On Death and Dying, Routledge, 1969.
[2] Jenny Greenhough, "57% of Adults Don't Have a Will—Are You One of Them? Estate Planning Survey Results Announced," March 30, 2011,
[3] Beneficiary Resource Services is provided by Bensinger, DuPont & Associates (BDA). The Dearborn National® brand companies do not provide or insure any part of Beneficiary Resource Services. Legal services will not be provided for court proceedings or for the preparation of briefs for legal appearances or actions or for any action against any party providing Beneficiary Resource Services. Legal services provided under Beneficiary Resource Services are not intended for adversarial matters. Neither BDA nor the Dearborn National brand companies are responsible or liable for care or advice rendered by any referral resources.
[4] Services provided by the ComPsych® Corporation, an independent organization not affiliated with the Dearborn National® brand companies. ComPsych does not provide insurance products of any kind. The Dearborn National brand companies do not underwrite or administer Online Will Preparation.
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