Georgia Life, Accident & Health Course Notes

Whole life is permanent cash-value insurance with a scheduled premium structure; ordinary whole life typically uses level premiums. Limited-pay whole life compresses premiums into a shorter payment period; single-premium whole life is funded with one premium. Term life is temporary death-benefit protection and normally has no cash value. Level term keeps the stated face amount level; decreasing term reduces the death benefit over time; annually renewable term renews yearly at attained-age rates. Renewable term continues without new evidence of insurability as provided by the policy; renewal premiums generally rise because the insured is older, not because the insurer re-underwrites new health. Convertible term permits conversion to permanent insurance during the contractual conversion period, generally without new evidence of insurability.

• Saying all permanent life policies have the same premium flexibility.

• First question: temporary or permanent?

A rider modifies the base policy; the rider's wording controls the added benefit, trigger, limits, and cost. Waiver of premium/waiver of monthly deduction provides premium relief after a qualifying disability and stated waiting period. Guaranteed insurability gives the contractual right to buy additional coverage at stated option times without new evidence of insurability, subject to rider terms. Payor benefit is commonly used with juvenile coverage and protects premium continuation if the premium payer dies or becomes disabled as defined. AD&D pays only when loss meets the rider's definition of covered accidental death or dismemberment; it does not replace the base life policy. Term, other-insured, LTC, return-of-premium, disability, and cost-of-living riders are explicitly within the Georgia outline—know each rider's function.

• Treating a waiver rider as an extra death benefit.

• Rider question = find the trigger.

Applications must be complete, accurate, and signed as required; a producer should not guess at omitted answers or alter a signed application without the applicant's knowledge. Application changes should follow the insurer's approved process and be acknowledged as required so the underwriter sees a reliable record. Representations are statements believed true to the applicant's knowledge; warranties are stronger contractual assertions. Know why insurance applications generally use representations. An initial premium receipt can make coverage conditional on its stated terms; the producer must explain the receipt and must not promise unconditional coverage. Replacement can sacrifice old-policy guarantees, surrender value, contestability position, or favorable terms; disclose and compare before the old policy is terminated. Point-of-sale topics in the outline include HIPAA/HIV consent, USA PATRIOT Act/anti-money-laundering duties, and GLBA privacy.

• Filling in missing application answers from memory.

• Field underwriting = gather, verify, submit—never invent.

Private disability claims begin with the policy definition of disability; own-occupation, any-occupation, total, partial, residual, and recurrent disability are distinct concepts. An elimination period is a waiting period before disability benefits begin; the benefit period is how long benefits can continue. Business overhead expense (BOE) coverage reimburses qualifying business expenses during an owner's disability; it does not replace the owner's personal income. Disability buyout coverage funds a contractual purchase of a disabled owner's business interest; key-employee disability protects the business from loss caused by a key person's disability. Basic medical coverage is narrower; major/comprehensive medical uses deductibles, copays, coinsurance, networks, and benefit limits. Deductible = specified amount before defined coverage applies; copay = fixed dollar amount; coinsurance = percentage of covered expense.

• Treating all disability definitions as identical.

• Health math: deductible → copay/coinsurance → plan maximum rules.

The combined Georgia Life, Accident and Sickness Agent exam is code 05 and currently contains 125 scored questions plus 10 pretest questions. The current Pearson outline weights the combined exam across life products/riders/underwriting/retirement, accident-and-sickness products/provisions/social insurance/other concepts/field underwriting, and Georgia law. The Commissioner has broad statutory powers to examine records, investigate, compel evidence/testimony, hold hearings where authorized, and enforce the Insurance Code. The Commissioner can act preventively against prohibited conduct that is occurring or about to occur when statutory conditions are met; actual consumer loss is not always required first. Domestic means formed under Georgia law; foreign means formed under another U.S. jurisdiction; alien means formed under the laws of another country. An insurer's certificate of authority concerns authorization to transact insurance; a producer license concerns the producer's line of authority.

• Calling the annuity best-interest rule a statutory fiduciary relationship.

• State-law numbers deserve a dedicated memorization pass.