Install
Insurer Safety and Failures guides
Captive vs independent life insurance agentsCaptive agents sell one company's policies; independent agents can quote several. How each is paid, what each can do for you and what to ask either one.Closed blocks: what happens to policies a company stops sellingTwo uses of the term: the pool protecting dividends after a demutualization, and run-off policies an insurer no longer sells. How each works and what it means.Corporate- and bank-owned life insurance (COLI and BOLI)What COLI and BOLI are, why employers buy them, the notice-and-consent rule (IRC 101(j), Form 8925), IRC 264 interest limits, and bank regulator oversight.Demutualization: when a mutual insurer goes publicHow a policyholder-owned mutual becomes a stock company, what policyholders received, and the 2000-2001 wave: MetLife, John Hancock, Principal, Prudential.How life insurance companies make moneyThe five profit sources of a life insurer (spread, mortality, fees, expenses, lapses), a hypothetical example, and how mutual and stock companies differ.How life insurance agents are paidAgents are paid by the insurer, mostly a large first-year share of premium plus smaller renewals. How it works, why it matters and what to ask.Life insurance mergers and acquisitionsHow life insurer deals work, the 2022-2026 wave (Corebridge-Equitable, Brighthouse, Banner Life, Resolution Life) and what they mean for policyholders.Life insurer failures in U.S. historyFrom Executive Life and Mutual Benefit in 1991 to Penn Treaty and recent long-term care and universal life cases, what failed, why and how policyholders fared.Life settlements: selling your life insurance policyHow selling a life insurance policy works, who regulates it, what rescission rights and disclosures to expect, and how the sale is taxed after Rev. Rul. 2020-5.Offshore reinsurance and Bermuda: why it matters to policyholdersWhy U.S. life insurers use Bermuda reinsurers, what the Fed, BIS, IMF and NAIC worry about, how Bermuda responds, and what policyholders can check.Pension risk transfer: when your pension becomes an annuityHow employers hand pension obligations to insurers, what ERISA and DOL IB 95-1 require, and what retirees lose or keep when PBGC coverage ends.Private equity's push into life insuranceWhy investment firms own life insurers and annuity writers, what the Fed, IMF and NAIC worry about, the industry reply, and what policyholders should check.Reinsurance: the insurers behind your insurerHow life reinsurance works, why insurers buy it, who the big reinsurers are and what it means for your policy, with figures from their own 2025 reports.Risk-based capital and life insurer solvencyHow the NAIC's risk-based capital formula sets a minimum cushion for life insurers, what its action levels mean, and why an RBC ratio is not a company ranking.State life and health guaranty associationsEvery state has a guaranty association that pays policyholders when a life insurer fails, up to a limit. How they are funded and what they cover.What happens if your life insurance company failsHow an insurer insolvency unfolds: rehabilitation or liquidation, what guaranty associations do, whether your policy keeps going and what to do in the meantime.When your life insurance policy is sold to another companyWhat changes and what does not when your insurer is bought, merged, or reinsures your block, with real examples and a checklist for reading the notice.