Hartford Financial Offers Death Benefit Rider on Bicentennial UL Freedom

The Hartford Financial Services has announced that it will offer its LifeAccess accelerated death benefit rider as an option on Hartford Bicentennial UL Freedom, a new universal life insurance policy.

The company said that the rider gives policyholders access to their death benefit, should those covered by the policy become chronically ill and otherwise qualify under the terms of the rider.

There are no restrictions on how the accelerated benefits can be used to help those covered by the policy if they are diagnosed with a chronic illness. Benefit payments may be used for non-medical needs, such as family care, home maintenance, or transportation. It also can be used for typical chronic illness needs, including assisted living, skilled nursing care, adult daycare, intermediate care, and hospice or respite care, the company said. There is an additional cost for the rider.

The Hartford said that the new Bicentennial UL Freedom policy is generally more competitively priced than the universal life policy it replaces. It is designed for individuals, couples or small business owners ranging in age from 45-70 who are interested in permanent guaranteed life insurance and want to transfer their wealth or help protect their income for their beneficiaries. Policyholders also have the flexibility to change their premium payments within certain restrictions.

Steve Roche, vice president of product management at Hartford Life, said: “An unexpected chronic illness can be devastating, both emotionally and financially. Our LifeAccess rider provides a contingency strategy for our customers to better manage the financial implications of the illness. Giving a chronically ill customer access to their death benefit while they are alive allows them to concentrate on more important things than worrying about how their bills will get paid.”