Guardian Life Insurance Company of America has introduced 2 changes at its individual disability insurance business.
Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Pittsfield, Mass., the disability insurance unit of Guardian, New York, has added the Business Owner Advantage program and a new approach to underwriting start-up companies.
The Business Owner Advantage program will increase maximum income protection limits for businesses outside the medical and dental fields by up to $2,000 per month.
A business owner now earning $300,000 per year, for example, might be able to increase coverage to $13,050 per month, from about $9,000 per month today, Guardian says.
The start-up underwriting changes will affect the way underwriters review applications from entrepreneurs starting new companies, Guardian says.
To compensate for the lack of available business history documentation, underwriters will look at factors such as an entrepreneurial applicant’s education, experience in a similar business, income in a previous post, and reasons for leaving the previous post, Guardian says.