Hi,

I'm a consumer in CA, married, 57 yr. M & 54 yr. F, looking into LTC policies, and I've narrowed it down to Genworth and State Farm. Can't seem to find much in the way of opinions or experiences with State Farm, and I'm hoping someone has some info they can share. Policies seem very equivalent as I've made efforts to compare apples to apples, and premium quotes are very close.

State Farm only has 2.3% market share in the LTC arena, but has a 98 Comdex score, whereas Genworth has 26.1% market share, but a 79 Comdex score. From one site I found some info on, 22% of policy holders had a "very favorable" opinion of State Farm and 36% "very unfavorable"; and Genworth was 24% and 28% respectively. (If I recall, this may have included all of State Farm's & Genworth's different insurance lines, and not specific to experience with LTC policies). Curious if any of that info would sway your opinion of one vs. the other, or whether it's not really a significant difference.

Thanks!

You can't go wrong with either choice.

I'll make it very easy for you.
State Farm may own the auto & homeowners insurance business, but they are not a player in the LTCi industry.

As you stated, they have a 2.3% market share. Genworth will most likely be the #1 producer of LTCi in 2010 & 2011 and will probably have close to a 50% market share.

If you say that premiums are close, there's no need to research any further, Genworth should be your choice.
Arthur

although I have nothing to substantiate the statement, I would not think State Farm will be a player in this business much longer...although I have noticed they have competitive plans for single people. They are basically a home and auto shop, whereas GNW is truly focused on the LTC business. Sometimes size matters.

Also, the last time I looked, the options available with SF are VERY limited compared to the available features and language available with GNW. For a couple, the lack of a "shared plan" with SF is one simple reason GNW is a better plan for the money IMHO.

If the comdex score bothers you, look at someone else....even Berkshire....for more options. Glad you are at least looking into this.


Herman Bruns

My State Farm agent suggested that I consider purchasing LTC insurance offered by, of course, State Farm. I informed him that I already have a policy with Prudential. Although he wasn't heavily pushing SF's LTC insurance on me, he said that he'd check in with me after I'd had an opportunity to review the coverage of my Prudential policy. It wasn't clear to me whether he was suggesting that I contemplate replacing my Prudential policy with SF's, or supplement it with SF's. Is it possible and/or legal to have multiple LTC insurance policies? If so, does it make sense to have multiple policies from competing firms and, if so, which policy would pay first in the event I start collecting on the benefits? Or would both, irrespective of coverage by a competitor?

FYI, I live in California.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

"My State Farm agent suggested that I consider purchasing LTC insurance offered by, of course, State Farm"

I wonder why that is???

Let him/her do a benefit-by-benefit comparison with State Farm vs Pru, including premiums. And then, do the same with your Pru agent.

State Farm is a major player in the auto & homeowners insurance business. Prudential is a major player in the Life & long term care business.
Arthur

Actually, the COMDEX numbers listed by a previous poster are incorrect. State Farm's LTC is not written by life company which does have a COMDEX of 98. It is written by SF Health Company.

A better way of looking at financial security for LTC companies is the percentile index. If a flawless and perfect rating was 100 (for financial security), a relative scale can be established by compliling in the various ratings from different industries. By looking at it this way, Genworth is a 22, Northwestern a 73, State Farm an 81, and NY Life an 83. It seems Genworth is in a vastly inferior position to the Mutuals from financial security. NY Life is not writing in most states anymore, so the other two mutuals seem to be the superior options.

Also, in an industry that on the whole, seems to have bitten off more then they can chew (thus leading to the need for increased premiums), I don't think I want to be with the major player. I'd prefer a smaller, brand name mutual company with financial strength and less exposure, versus the market leader who's taken on two much risk and is in a much more vulnerable position to start.

Just my two cents.

Just curious...who do you write LTCI with?

If one can only sell vanilla ice cream then one needs to find 30 ways to make every other flavor seem bad.