Northwestern Mutual Update

I stated in an earlier blog post about the comfort that Kim and I felt by having worked with Northwestern Mutual for disability insurance, life insurance, and long term care insurance.  That was one thing we didn't have to worry about when I was diagnosed.

We started working with a very young Tim Mulroy and Paul Torchia in 2003 when I took a job with the commonwealth and no longer had disability insurance from my employer.  We had lived in the house we built for 18 months and had a hefty mortgage.  That led to a review of our overall insurance, financial goals, and retirement plan, all of which were crafted to ensure that if either Kim or I got sick or died that the other would be taken care of and not lose our house.

We started with Life Insurance and designed a plan of term and whole life insurance.  Since I was the higher earner, we converted some of my term insurance a few years ago to whole life so that it would earn some cash value if we needed it later on.  It became our second highest monthly bill after our mortgage payment.

Our next concern was long term care, and we wanted to ensure if we got sick and needed home health or nursing care that we would have adequate coverage.  Kim and I both have 6 years of coverage as a result, and I am likely to start using it in 3 months after our 12 week exclusion period is over.  I already don't meet 2 of the 6 activities of daily life (ADL's) and we are working on hiring a home nursing care company.  We are on a waiting list for the company we really want but aren't sure when they will be able to start so we are searching for another company.

The big news is that NMFN sent us a letter last week indicating that due to my loss of speech in June last year after my diagnosis they were classifying my disability insurance as a presumptive loss, and would be paying my monthly private disability insurance in full retroactively back to June 1, 2014.  Also, since my life insurance policies also carry a disability clause, they indicated that they would be refunding our monthly premiums since that time and waiving all premiums on my disability and life insurance moving forward.  We received a substantial disability check in the mail and the insurance premium refund will go directly into our checking account.  They are also converting the rest of my term policy to whole life so that it will have cash value that increases on an annual basis.

Paul had told us when he first met with us after my diagnosis that all of these things could happen but that it took time and he couldn't guarantee that any of those actions would happen.  

Well, they have, and it made us realize that NMFN is a company unlike many others.  They try to find a way to help and pay their clientele unlike other companies who try to find reasons not to pay.  Our choice of companies was very fortuitous!