Product News

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If you have additional questions about these updates, please contact your dedicated Lincoln Underwriting team.  Next week, our Go Digital webpage will be updated to access these updates, FAQs and even more resources from Lincoln Underwriting & New Business and Customer Service.

PRODUCT UPDATE:  REMINDER: On May 10, Lincoln will enhance our IUL portfolio.

Click here to learn more about our competitive solutions, our NEW Fidelity indexed account and core strategies to help meet your customers’ needs and drive more business.  Please note: Bookmark this page so you can access all our resources on launch day!

PEOPLE UPDATE: NEW Associate Chief Underwriter

Lincoln’s Office of the Chief Underwriting team is pleased to announce Wally Empleo as the newest Associate Chief Underwriter (ACU), effective May 10, 2021.  As ACU, Wally will lead the Foreign National team and provide support to our leading-edge underwriting teams.

Helping clients understand the differences between life insurance products and decide what’s best suited to meet their needs can be a challenge. Gerber Life makes it easier.

Our Whole Life policy provides permanent life insurance protection that comes with guarantees,1 simplicity and an easy buying experience for your clients. Take a look at how we compare to universal life policies, and you’ll see very quickly that Gerber Life Whole Life Insurance checks all the boxes for you and your clients.

With competitively priced premiums, no required illustrations, an array of guarantees1, and a simple application process, Gerber Life Whole Life can make buying life insurance an easy and hassle-free experience for your clients.

Help your clients make an informed choice and be the hero they need.

Drop Ticket reminders and tips
Drop Ticket is a digital solution that helps expedite the life insurance application process. And as a reminder, it’s the required submission method for most term business (see below). The following tips can help ensure a smooth process when you use Drop Ticket:
• The Field Office Contact listed should be the person managing the case at the BGA or Principal Financial Network office, not the financial professional’s (writing agent) personal email.
• When completing the Drop Ticket, don’t select Principal® to order the labs if the BGA, Principal Financial Network office, or financial professional prefers to order them.
• Support is available at TeleAppSupport@principal.com for the following items:
o Cancelling requests
o Updating case contact information (email, phone)
o Resending online links
Review our current service times

Note: This email is only available for handling the above requests and will not respond to requests to check the status of an interview/signatures, this information is provided in emails to the Field Office Contact and on the Pending Business Report. It also cannot be used to grant requests for specific times to contact clients.
Drop Ticket requirements reminder
Drop Ticket must be used for all Term application submissions with a face amount of $3 million for ages 18-40 and $2.5 million for ages 41 and older. Exceptions include:
• Life/DI combos – indicate with a cover letter and/or on the Producer Report.
• Applications written in New York.
• Applications that require multiple owner signatures (examples include trust-owned where multiple trustees need to sign and business-owned where multiple business owners need to sign).
• Applications that are owned by a business or submitted as part of a business case that are administered by our Business Market Administration team.
o A Business Case Submission Checklist (DD-849 R-4) is required at submission. If the checklist is not included, the application will not be processed
• Applications where additional, multiple, or alternative policies are requested at the time of submission. Indicate with a cover letter and/or on the Producer Report.
• Additionally, a customer completed Part B via online or phone is preferred for these applications that are exceptions.
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New Business and Underwriting phone changes
We updated our phone system on April 28, 2021. With the changes, our main phone number is still 800-654-4278, but new menu options were added so you can reach an Underwriter or Case Coordinator. Contact sheets have been updated with new phone numbers—direct phone numbers or extensions you may have used in the past are no longer valid.
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Tele-App hours change
The increased use of our online application has resulted in lower call volumes later in the evening. So, we made a small change to our hours. The new TeleApp hours of operation are 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. CT (Monday -Thursday) and 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. CT (Friday).
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NY Reg 187 form updated
The New York Product Disclosure form has been updated to reflect our current product offerings. You should begin using the new version of the form (DD9355NY-3) immediately.
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Use proper overnight mail address to ensure timely processing
Please be sure you’re sending overnight packages to:

711 High Street
Attn: IDPC
Des Moines, IA 50392

Using this address will ensure the timely processing of your requests. Also update your overnight carrier site if 801 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA is saved as a default.
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Know Your Customer reminders
As of April 1, 2021, the Know Your Customer Questionnaire is required with all new applications for life insurance, where an organization/entity will be either the owner or paying the premiums.
• The fully completed questionnaire is required prior to the policy issue. If the form isn’t received with the application, a pending requirement for it will appear on your pending business report.
• If you have questions about completing the form, please work with the organization/entity to determine which section(s) are applicable.
• The form is available in paper application packages and will be available as part of electronic application packages at a later date.
• Only one form is required per organization/entity unless there has been a change of ownership or control person. An example of this would be when a new participant is being added to an existing plan (if the existing plan was established prior to April 1, 2021, we require a fully completed Know Your Customer form on the next participant that’s added). If the form has been previously provided, please let us know when the application is submitted.
• For applications where the owner will be a trust, the Trust Certification and Indemnification form should be used instead of the Know Your Customer Questionnaire.

With Mother’s Day fast approaching I hope you have taken a few moments to purchase a gift/card for the mother(s) in your life. Not only is this a great day to thank them for all the hard work they do/have done, its also a great day to show them love in a different manner.  Show the moms/wives/daughters a new form of love in the gift of life insurance. As cousin Eddie says, “its the gift that keeps on giving”.

Take a look at these pieces for using this week.

value-of-mom.pdf (lgamerica.com)

insure-your-love-infographic.pdf (lgamerica.com)

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Introducing the Advisor App

As we continue to pivot to a fully digital experience, we’re pleased to announce the rollout of our new Advisor App, designed to enhance the experience of doing business with us and to make it easier than ever to complete applications with your clients.

Enables agents to:
• Maintain total control over the application process — beginning to end
• Reduce application completion time
• Take advantage of all the benefits of our automated underwriting platform
o Faster cycle times
o Instant decisions
o Exam-free underwriting opportunities
• Easily access applications in 2 ways: from our Direct Link or Partner Dashboard
Ready to get started? Check out our Advisor App training materials for more information or click below to register for our webinar.

Please note that this application is not yet available in New York.

Important IUL Update: Hang Seng Index is Retiring from our Interest Crediting Strategies on May 1, 2021

Under current U.S. sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese investments, National Life is restricted from buying certain international financial instruments. Thus, it is no longer feasible for National Life to offer the Hang Seng Index as an interest crediting strategy on new policies.

On May 1, 2021 we will retire the Hang Seng index crediting strategy option from our IUL products. For the time being, all inforce policies that currently use Hang Seng will remain in place, and National Life will support its crediting.

While one index crediting strategy is being retired, National Life’s IULs continue to offer a competitive value proposition with its robust living benefits and five popular interest crediting strategies:
• 3 index crediting strategies that follow the S&P500 Index
• 1 index crediting strategy that follows the Credit Suisse Balanced Trend Index
• 1 fixed interest crediting strategy
For clients seeking a strategy with international exposure, we offer the Credit Suisse Balanced Trend as a global multi-asset strategy index*

Important Dates to Know
• Saturday, April 24 – Hang Seng Index is no longer available on eApp and the illustration system. Changes are reflected on the Interest Crediting Strategy form and updated in application kits in Merrill.
• Saturday, May 1 – Hang Seng Index will no longer be available on all new IUL policy applications.
For pending applications that have been through the final locking ceremony, if Hang Seng was selected, the strategy will not be removed from the application even after the 4/24 deadline. For pending applications that have not been locked, if Hang Seng was selected, a new Interest Crediting Strategy form will be required starting 4/24. eApp will prompt you to submit the new form, when required.

Good news for all of your producers when it comes to their continuing education and training needs.  We’re happy to share with you that all producers who log in to their SureLC profile can get the newly increased discount of 20% OFF of WebCE courses.  To access the discount, they should go to their Training page and select the 20% Off button, as shown in the example below.
With this new discount, combined with SuranceBay’s FREE AML course, we hope that SureLC gives your producers a great resource for cost savings on their training courses.
Please send any questions to support@surancebay.com.  We’ll be happy to help!