What are some long term care sales-pitches to be aware of?

Avoiding sales-pitches is crucial when you want to purchase long term care. Sales-pitches are everywhere. Make sure you know exactly what you are entitled to, and avoid these five sales pitches:

• With the policy you currently own, you are going to be really sorry in the future! You should definitely question any insurer who is questioning your current policy. When an agent is speaking to you in an unprofessional tone, this isn't recommended.

Make sure that the policy that they are offering you is necessary. At times, insurance agents are only offering you policies because they want you to pay more money. Read your policy thoroughly and if you think that they are lying, don't take their word for it. Rather than purchasing a new policy, you should simply upgrade it.

• Don't worry about the financial rating of the company, because there's a guaranty fund that insurers your policy! When insurance companies say something like that, that usually means that their financial rating isn't good.

If a company doesn't have a good financial rating, then you should probably start shopping around for another insurance company.

You can check the financial rating of your company from Moody's A.M. Best, Weiss and Standard & Poor's. You can also contact your state's insurance department for financial ratings.

• If you purchase now, you'll lock the price forever! Most policies will usually base your price upon your age when you purchase the policy. It would be highly unorthodox for your insurance company to offer you a price that will never rise. Either they're bluffing, or they're telling you the whole story. When an insurance company says something like this, it is good to keep an eye out.

• Purchase a long-term care policy because it's a write-off! Even though this might be true in some cases, you won't be able to take the advantage of the tax write-off.

• The state insurance department approved this policy! Always remember that state approval means only that the policy met the minimum standards required by law.

If your insurance company is offering this as the most important advantage, then you should probably consider changing your insurance company.