Host Nacha Rivera: We're here with Mr. Ignacio Sarro, vice president, business development, at SBLI USA Mutual Life Insurance Company, Inc.. Good afternoon and welcome to the program.

Ignacio Sarro: Good afternoon, and thank you.

Rivera: Good afternoon. What is this company all about, what are we talking about?

Sarro: We're a life insurance company, established in the state of New York. We - and our predecessor company, the Savings Banks Life Insurance Fund - have been in existence for over 60 years, and we have been in Puerto Rico for a year and a half, and January 1st of this year we inaugurated our first life insurance store.

Rivera: When people think about insurance they think about someone many years ago who went house to house and knocked on your door and offered you all of these services. Nowadays life insurance is very important due to all the situations that happen to us.

Sarro: Yes, life insurance definitely is an integral and important part of any family's financial planning. A person without life insurance risks not helping or complementing the future revenues that he or she wants for their surviving children or spouse to have for their future plans. If and when the person dies -- well, those future plans might not be fulfilled.

Rivera: When a person thinks about life insurance he or she generally thinks about death, but that does not necessarily need be the case.

Sarro: True, life insurance, of course, gives coverage if one dies. There's a monetary amount that is given to the beneficiary, but that same life insurance may accumulate a cash value. Thus, in the event that one does not die, and one reaches retirement age, basically one can withdraw the funds to supplement and complement earnings and future expenditures at retirement age.

Rivera: Is it really complicated to obtain life insurance that is sufficiently broad that it covers you if something happens to you suddenly so that your family is covered?

Sarro: There are a wide variety of life insurance policies. There's individual life insurance, called term insurance, that only offers coverage when death occurs. Then there's whole life, because it's for the rest of your life, and that's the type of policy to which you can contribute money.

Rivera: How can one decide, or do you help one decide, which is best, most convenient?

Sarro: That's why it's important for the insurance professional to interview a person and perform an immediate "needs assessment." Depending on the age of the person, the professional determines what type of insurance they need. At an early age, what many families do is purchase life insurance for the eventuality that they are not here, so that their children have a pre-established monetary sum for the future.

Rivera: Can you, depending on children, and for example if there are children who are from more than one marriage, can you have different policies?

Sarro: All of this can be done. You are the owner. It really is a contract between you, the insured, and the insuring company. You can determine who you leave that money to, in the unfortunate case that you die.

Rivera: There's something that I imagine preoccupies everyone a lot, and it's that sometimes you are sending monthly payments for many years ... to a particular insurance company, and you really don't have the certainty that the day something happens to you, well that person, that son, that family, will receive that money ... and that person will be set. I mean, does that happen automatically or [will] the insurer start giving you a hard time, [saying] "send me such and such data" or "send me this other information". What guarantees do we have to avoid that?

Sarro: Insurance companies in Puerto Rico and the U.S. are regulated by Insurance Departments, which are there for many reasons, including to regulate insurance companies, and to protect consumers. Insurance policies vary from company to company, but typically they request that evidence of the death is shown by means of a death certificate, filling out a claim form and surrendering the actual policy itself. Of course there are clauses, like in every contract, that say that if you commit suicide, within the first 24 months of a policy, you will not be covered.

In Puerto Rico, buying a life insurance policy is typically accomplished through the distribution channel of insurance agents, as you said before, going door to door. At our company, SBLI USA, what we are doing is novel. We are entering the market by having as a point of sale a shopping mall, where consumers can come and purchase policies directly from us in our store.

We have insurance agents and each agent is trained to explain the different kinds of policies: term life insurance, whole life, including life insurance for older people... We have a very interesting policy that does not require evidence of insurability for people between ages 55 and 75. It is called "Senior Life" insurance. It has guaranteed approval --- you request the insurance and you can get up to $20,000 in coverage. We also have simple issue policies. What does that mean? Life insurance typically implies that the company evaluate the risk it is "acquiring" ...

Rivera: Yes, that's medical exams and such...

Sarro: Typically, medical tests are performed and these have many questions, etc. We have simple issue term policies with only three questions that you answer. An investigation is performed at the Medical Information Bureau, and these policies can be approved for up to $100,000 of coverage. Generally, no medical exam is required. However, based upon answers given to the questions, proof of insurability may be requested.

Rivera: Ignacio, besides those life insurance policies, what other insurance policies do you have?

Sarro: We have accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, and we have another very interesting policy that I think very few companies in Puerto Rico have, which provides life insurance for a child. Many people might say, why do I want to insure a child's life? Well, they are not exempt from death. But these policies are primarily used for the future insurability of a child. When you purchase one when a child is young and healthy, then when he or she becomes an adult he may continue with life insurance.

So, we have policies for older persons, ages 55 to 75; we have policies for children from almost newborns to age 15; and we have simple issue policies that help to facilitate the purchasing process. We have affordable policies directed to people who possibly would not have the chance to purchase expensive insurance but who might wish to purchase a $100,000 policy that they believe is sufficient for their spouse. And the premiums are affordable for the general public.

Rivera: For the general public, I know.

Sarro: Many people believe life insurance is expensive, but it is not sometimes. It depends on how much you purchase.

Rivera: And it's guaranteed that if something really happens - God forbid - if something happens, the person will not have too many complications, but just a series of documents that are obviously necessary and [he] will receive the amount for which the person was insured.

Sarro: That's in a contract; it's in a contract between the insurer and the consumer and it's called an insurance policy.

Rivera: I particularly noted that you are in a shopping mall, and we will specify that it is in the Plaza del Sol shopping mall, in Bayamón, that is very accessible...

Sarro: Very accessible.

Rivera: And where the public can go in. Often there are husbands accompanying their wives, and they can go in and verify the information and request insurance information.

Sarro: We have an interactive area, what's called an intranet, a modern technological concept. We have kiosks, where visitors may obtain quotes through self-service, and where there is no intimidation. Many consumers think that people will force them to purchase insurance. But at our store you can do it calmly while visiting a shopping center. If you are with your children, we have a children's area with movies. So if you want to talk to an insurance agent in a more relaxed environment and you have children, don't worry, bring them. And obviously our employees are duly licensed insurance agents.

Rivera: We thank Ignacio Sarro, vice president, business development for SBLI USA Mutual Life Insurance Company, Inc., for his participation in this program. We will be talking to him again in future programs. Thank you for being with us.

Sarro: Thank you, we're at Plaza del Sol mall in Bayamon, if you wish to contact us you may call 1-866-CUIDATE, 1-866-CUIDATE.

Rivera: Thanks again, there's no time for more...