The life insurance examiner : a practical treatise upon medical examinations for life insurance / by Charles F. Stillman.

Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The life insurance examiner : a practical treatise upon medical examinations for life insurance / by Charles F. Stillman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Examiner then becomes witness. If, upon inspection, it being understood that the Examiner has no personal knowledge of the applicant, the sig- natures executed before him correspond with the signatures before the examination, the examination itself should then be proceeded with. Owing to the competition now existing between the various life insur- ance companies, and the difificulty with which desirable applications are secured, it becomes a matter of paramount importance for the physician to so examine the applicant as to cause him to be friendly toward the com- pany, and not to feel that he has been unduly or unnecessarily subjected to harsh or unbusiness-like treatment during the examination. In many cases it is only by the most persistent solicitation, and after repeated and determined efforts on the part of the solicitor, that a man can be induced to apply for examination, and a genial manner on the part of the Examiner is of great importance, especially if the applicant is appearing for examination for the first time, as he is then more apt to be nervous and excited, not knowing but that some imperfections will be found in his organism before unknown to him, which will not only debar him from insur- ance, but will necessitate his taking medical advice from his family physician. Another point which cannot be too strongly impressed upon the Ex- aminer is that as an official of the company he represents, and paid as he is for his services by that company, he should retain such information as he elicits about an applicant for the company's own benefit; and even if he be the family physician of the applicant, he should remember that any point discovered by him during such examination is the property of the company, is paid for by the company, and is not the property of the applicant. The Examiner should also remember that it is the business of an agent to procure the acceptance of a risk, if possible, and he should refuse to give an agent any information about an applicant unless authorized to do so in any particular case by the Medical Directors of the company for which he is examining. The neglect of this rule not only subjects the Medical Directory to annoyance from the agents, but also very frequently from the applicant himself, in case of rejection. On the other hand, the Examiner should remember that the applicant is entitled to his insurance in case he does not fall below the standard of excellence established by the company. But again it should be impressed upon him that no information relative to the case should be afforded either to applicant or to agent, for the latter has the power to apply directly to the home office of every company to learn the cause of postponement or rejection ; and the responsibility of affording him information in such a case, or of affording the applicant information, should rest entirely with the executive department of the com- pany for which the Examiner is acting, and not with the Examiner himself.