Life insurance partnerships are becoming increasingly popular in the mortgage and lending industries as companies look for new ways to provide value, retain current customers, and stay ahead of the competition. Here are some ways life insurance companies and mortgage lenders can work together.
Why life insurance partnerships make sense for mortgage companies
In recent years, the mortgage industry has seen a trend toward offering a more comprehensive suite of financial products to customers. It makes sense; if consumers are willing to trust a lender with one of the biggest purchases of their lives, why not with other major financial products? Term life insurance can be one such product, especially since a having a mortgage is one of the top three reasons people purchase life insurance. Additionally:
- Life insurance is a long-term product: Term life insurance that provides customers with financial protection for themselves and their loved ones has longevity and stickiness. This aligns well with the long-term nature of mortgages, making it a natural fit for mortgage companies to offer to their customers. Life insurance is an extremely sticky product allowing natural touch points throughout the term.
- It’s a high-value add to customers: Offering term life insurance to customers provides added value and helps build trust and loyalty. And 85% of consumers prefer to buy life insurance through financial institutions they trust, like their mortgage lender. Plus, it demonstrates to customers that the mortgage company cares about their financial well-being beyond just the mortgage transaction.
- It offers substantial revenue: Term life insurance is a $850 billion industry, with 12 million active shoppers online searching for it. Helping lending customers meet that can lead to substantial revenue: term life insurance can be a big-ticket item, especially compared to other offerings such as home security or homeowner’s insurance.
Why Ladder is a great partner for mortgage companies
Part of the reluctance to sell life insurance with mortgages has been due to the large hassle for both the lender and the customer: up to eight weeks of paperwork, appointments, and back-and-forth adds up to not being worth a lender’s time and a grueling process for the customer. However, Ladder has changed the game by offering a fully digital term life insurance experience:
- Offering a five-minute, fully digital experience: We use real-time underwriting to give an instant offer to those who qualify, with coverage available and bound as soon as they click the button. There are no medical exams for coverage up to $3M, only health questions are asked, and we have coverage limits of $8M. Most digital term life products cap at $3M. This digital experience allows for the lender to help solve a customer’s real problem in the most efficient and delightful way possible, with very little lift from the lender.
- Offering a fully underwritten product: Our digital term life insurance is fully underwritten, which means that our pricing is very competitive with what you might get during the traditional term life insurance process with a life insurance agent. Many competitors offer simplified issue products, which are quick but often cost more.
- Offering a delightful experience: The process is fast and easy thanks to being fully digital, but beyond that, Ladder offers a fully licensed and experienced support team to help customers with any questions. Additionally, our NPS score is 84 and comparable to Apple and Netflix, versus the industry average, which is around the same as the DMV’s.
- Offering laddering: Perhaps the most unique thing about Ladder—and part of where we get our name from—is that we offer laddering. Laddering allows customers to continuously right-size their coverage. This flexibility of reducing your coverage and premiums as say, a mortgage gets paid off, can help customers save up to 40% over the years if done diligently.
- Offering easy integration: Ladder purposefully makes it easy to get started as the antidote to the traditional process. Lenders can dip their toes with a simple co-branded link, and Ladder offers the landing page, marketing resources, and best practices needed to launch. Revenue can start flowing in a matter of weeks, and deeper API integrations are available should you want them, such as a quoting tool, coverage calculator, full application, or even laddering straight into your platform.
- Offering you the opportunity to deliver on your company’s promise: By offering digital term life insurance through Ladder, you are helping your customers buy and protect their dream homes and dream life.
This low-lift, high-impact partnership with lenders can help close the insurance gap—over 106 million Americans are underinsured or uninsured—create revenue, solidify brand loyalty, and drive business growth. By partnering with us, you can provide your customers with a valuable financial product, differentiate yourself from the competition, and benefit from our industry-leading digital platform, unique laddering feature, fast policy issuance, and exceptional support.
If you want to learn more about how Ladder partners with mortgage companies to deepen customer relationships and generate meaningful revenue, contact Patrick Elstead, Strategic Partnerships, pelstead@ladderlife.com.
230807-3047299
