140 Million Forgotten Consumers—The Life Insurance Policyholders of America
This is a slightly expanded version of the ninth annual Colston E. Warne Lecture, presented to the American Council on Consumer Interests at its twenty-sixth annual conference, April 28, 1980 in San Diego.
Abstract
The life insurance disclosure movement has focused almost entirely on point-of-sale disclosure, to the virtual exclusion of post-sale disclosure. Life insurance companies are therefore under pressure to provide attractive point-of-sale information. Some of the methods used to achieve this objective adversely affect long-time policyholders. Emphasis should be placed on the need for post-sale disclosure, and policyholders should be educated on how to perform their own evaluations. Publicity should be given to companies whose actions improve the position of long-time policyholders, and to companies whose actions adversely affect long-time policyholders.
