Buying life insurance through Boxer Insurance Services was a bad experience start to finish.
The problems I had with Michael Bokser are no doubt systemic to life insurance agency in general. Just because someone is your agent does not mean he is required by law to place your interests above his own or those of the companies he represents. However, I expected more from Michael Bokser, given that he was recommended by my trusted financial planner.
On a Positive Note: Michael was always very courteous and responsive answering emails and calls, and he certainly made sure we got our paperwork done when it came to cementing the policy. He's a nice guy...
But overall, my financial planner really whiffed on this recommendation. Here's why.
Strike One: I told Michael up front that what I wanted was term life insurance and long term disability insurance for my wife and me. Instead of taking the ball and running with it, Bokser wasted my time and tried my patience trying to sell me whole life insurance. Even after I'd indicated my disinterest, he kept raising the subject. Extremely off-putting.
Strike Two: All through the process of securing term life insurance, when I asked questions, Michael often answered the question he wanted to answer instead of the question I had asked. Life is literally too short to defend against this annoying sales / misdirection tactic. This is where I should have gotten off the bus, so shame on me.
Strike Three: Michael steered us toward American General Life (1-star rated on consumeraffairs! ... no online interface! ... Kafkaesque customer service!) A 1980s-style customer service operation might have been forgivable, but the unforgivable sin is that this company's underwriting was uniquely unsuited to my profile and my wife's profile. This is where an agent could have delivered real value assessing our profiles and then pre-vetting various companies' underwriting tendencies. But Bokser steamrolled toward American General ... and terrible (probably avoidable!) underwriting outcomes. What does this mean in real English? My wife most likely should have qualified for the highest tier, but instead ended up in a lower tier. Cost: hundreds of dollars a year and thousands over the life of the policy. A similar outcome happened with my policy. I obviously can't speak directly to underwriting results, but I can speak to the fact that Bokser had no process and no initiative to help put us in the best-possible underwriting position. Post facto, I had to hound him to get an explanation for the bad outcome from American General.
Strike Four/Last Straw: I needed to make a change to my wife's policy with American General, so I contacted Michael. He indicated we'd need to contact the company and handle ourselves. We did, and American General told us we needed to sign a form in the presence of our agent. So, after that wasted phone call, I wrote Michael back to request he appear to sign the form with us. He replied: "American General has an office in Woodland Hills. I don't represent them any longer. Best you go online to find them. Sorry I can't help you any longer."
To Sum up: Michael Bokser opened up our relationship trying to sell me a policy I didn't want or need; he answered questions like a sphinx instead of an advocate; he didn't make any effort to get us the best underwriting; didn't proactively offer explanations or helpful insights; and finally, Michael Bokser abandoned me to my fate with the janky insurance company he steered me to in the first place.
Looking for life insurance? I'd look elsewhere for an agent. And if I had it to do over again I'd start online with a service like Quotacy. read more