Before I get into my review of Zander Insurance, let me clarify that I respect Dave Ramsey and think he’s a great advocate of debt-free strategies. However, I disagree with his recommendation of Zander Insurance.
The first thing every consumer should understand is: Zander Insurance sponsors the Dave Ramsey Show. In other words, they pay Dave Ramsey to exclusively recommend them. There is no integrity or value test that Zander Insurance passed; they simply pay enough money for the endorsement.
These are the reasons why I feel Zander Insurance falls short compared to truly independent life insurance agencies:
Zander Insurance only offers 10 life insurance companies according to the quotes they display on their website. Those 10 companies just happen to be the companies who offer some of the top commissions in the life insurance industry. There are several highly rated and competitive carriers they should be offering who, coincidently, are on the lower end of the commission tables in our industry: Transamerica, Prudential, MetLife, Lincoln Financial and Mutual of Omaha just to name a few.
They offer blanket advice.
Above Zander Insurance’s Quote Engine, they feature a quote by Dave Ramsey that states “…most people with families need 8 to 10 times their income in coverage and I recommend the 20 and 30 year guaranteed level plans…” It’s this sort of blanket advice that will result in being over or under insured. Everyone’s situation is different and every family has unique needs. All it takes is a few minutes to listen to what the consumer is trying to accomplish to make a recommendation. Life insurance is not "one size fits all".
Incompetent for Consumers with Health Impairments
I decided to write this Zander Insurance Review because I had a consumer (now a client) call me who was declined from Zander with one of their major carriers. The reason for the decline was his PSA’s were rising over the past 2 years so they told my client no other life insurance companies would cover him until he got his PSA’s under control. However, his PSA’s have actually come down over the last 5 years and for a 70 year old they are within normal range. I secured this gentleman a Preferred Plus rating with Prudential. A top rated life insurance carrier that Zander Insurance won’t offer.
If Dave Ramsey really cared about the debt-free strategies he preaches (which includes saving his followers money on their life insurance) he would recommend using a different agency. There are many agencies and agents out there that actually practice what Dave Ramsey preaches and will find the lowest cost life insurance on the market for their clients.
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