★ The Lead Story · Investigation

The Mortality and Multiplier Tables They Don't Want You to See

A 45-year-old man with controlled high blood pressure can be quoted three different premiums by three carriers — same condition, same labs, same height and weight. The reason isn't a mystery. It's a set of tables almost no consumer ever sees.

An investigation by Matthew Myers · File 067 · Pricing

Exhibit B · Substandard Rating Multipliers Industry standard

Each table rating adds 25% to your assumed mortality — and to your premium.

Rating	Multiplier	% Above Standard	Typical trigger
Standard	1.00×	0%	No significant health issues
Table 2 (B)	1.50×	+50%	Controlled high blood pressure
Table 4 (D)	2.00×	+100%	History of a heart issue
Table 8 (H)	3.00×	+200%	Multiple serious conditions

Illustrative example · Standard table-rating convention (each numbered table ≈ +25% of standard mortality)

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This Week's Reveals 29 files

Watch
Is Your Agent Required to Put You First? It Depends on the Product, the Account, and Your State.

There is no uniform national fiduciary duty for life insurance and annuity sales. The 2016 Department of Labor fiduciary rule was struck down by a federal appeals court in 2018, and a 2024 replacement was stayed and then vacated. What remains is a patchwork: the SEC's Regulation Best Interest for securities, a state-by-state NAIC 'best interest' standard for annuities adopted in most states, and ordinary suitability elsewhere. Whether your agent must put you first depends on the product, the account, and where you live.
Watch
The Two Numbers Congress Changed in a Christmas-Week Spending Bill

In December 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act rewrote Internal Revenue Code Section 7702 — the definition of a 'life insurance contract' for tax purposes — swapping the fixed 4% and 6% interest assumptions set in 1984 for lower, floating rates (2% and 4% in 2021). The change lets more premium go into a policy before it becomes a taxable Modified Endowment Contract, which reshaped how whole life and IUL are designed and priced.
The Ugly
The Death File Insurers Read Only One Way

State regulators found that life insurers used the Social Security Death Master File to cut off annuity payments to people who had died — but did not use the same file to find and pay life insurance beneficiaries, who often never knew a policy existed. Multistate settlements from 2011–2018 (John Hancock, MetLife, Prudential and dozens more) forced insurers to cross-check the death file both ways. California regulators reported nearly $10 billion in benefits returned to beneficiaries nationwide.
The Ugly
The Silent Rate Hike: When Carriers Raised the Cost of a Policy You Already Owned

Beginning around 2015, Transamerica, AXA/Equitable, Lincoln National, John Hancock, and Voya raised the non-guaranteed 'cost of insurance' charge on older universal life policies — often on insureds over 70 with large death benefits. Policyholders sued, arguing the increases weren't justified by mortality and were designed to recoup losses or force lapses. The carriers settled for a combined total well over $800 million, most including multi-year freezes on further increases.

Industry Watch sourced

NAIC's Actuarial Guideline 49-A caps how aggressively an indexed universal life policy can be illustrated — and was tightened again by AG 49-B in 2023.
The 11th Circuit vacated the FCC's one-to-one consent rule in January 2025 — reviving broad lead-sharing consent. See File 089.

⌘ The Operating Premise

Every policy has three faces.

We don't pretend life insurance is all bad. We don't pretend it's all good. Each product, carrier, and tactic gets sorted into the column where it earns its place.

— The Good

What actually protects your family.

The products and practices we'd recommend to our own siblings. Cheap, clear, and built for the job they claim to do.

Level term, 20- and 30-year
Direct-to-consumer carriers
Conversion riders done right
Group life through employers

Read the Good file

ii.

— The Bad

Sold as smart. Almost never is.

Products that work for someone — usually the agent or the carrier. Defensible in narrow cases, oversold in nearly every other.

Whole life as "investment"
Universal life with vanishing premiums
Mortgage protection insurance
Return-of-premium term

Read the Bad file

iii.

— The Ugly

The stuff that should not exist.

Products and tactics that cross from aggressive into predatory. Where we name names, document harm, and tell you to walk away.

Indexed UL on illustrated rates
"Infinite Banking" pitches
Final-expense door-to-door
Bait-and-switch underwriting

Read the Ugly file

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AI flags common carrier "gotchas" by name — cap traps, surrender schedules, COI creep
One vetted independent agent reviews your X-Ray and follows up
A plain-English read on your policy: what's solid, what's a trap
One agent, not an endless list. No mass lead-selling. No captives.

Upload & Reveal See a sample x-ray

POLICYREVEAL · X-RAY ENGINE v2.4

Scanning · Whole Life Illustration · Carrier #4

Death benefit: $500,000 guaranteed

Premium structure: level $9,840/yr · non-vanishing

Year 10 cash value: illustrated $42K · guaranteed $19K

Surrender charge: 100% in years 1–5, sliding through year 14

Dividend rate: non-guaranteed · current 5.5%

Loan provisions: direct recognition · 5% fixed

Lapse risk: moderate after year 11 if dividends drop

Red flags04

Yellow flags02

Green02

⌬ How the X-Ray works · Free, no signup wall

Four steps. You stay in the driver's seat.

This isn't a spam funnel. Your policy gets an AI X-ray, then one vetted independent agent — not a call center, not a partner list — reviews it and reaches out.

↑

— Step One

Upload your policy.

Illustration, in-force ledger, quote, or even a photo of the page. Anything you've got.

⊹

— Step Two

Get the X-Ray report.

AI surfaces every cap rate, surrender charge, and gotcha. Plain-English summary of what you actually own.

iii

⚖

— Step Three

One agent reviews.

A single vetted independent — licensed in your state — reads your X-Ray and reaches out with a recommendation: switch, or keep it.

✓

— Step Four

Your call. Talk, or walk.

Take the conversation if it's useful, or ignore it. No pressure, no callback storms, no partner-list spam.

The PolicyReveal promise: One agent, not an endless list. When you run the X-Ray, a single vetted independent reviews it and reaches out — we do not sell your lead to a partner network, and we do not run a callback farm.

◆ The Network · Independent only

Why we only work with independent agents.

A captive agent is paid by one carrier and can only sell that carrier's policies — even when a competitor would serve you better. Independent agents are appointed with dozens of carriers and get paid the same regardless of which one wins. The incentives finally line up with yours.

Captive Agent

One carrier. One pitch.

Sells only their employer's products. Compensation tied to that carrier's preferred mix. You hear what they're allowed to sell — not what's best.

vs.

Independent Agent

Dozens of carriers. Real choice.

Appointed with 20–60 carriers. Shops the whole market for you. Same commission no matter who wins, so they recommend the actual best fit.

Run the X-Ray first Just talk to an agent →

Your matched agent licensed in your state

Two quick questions and we'll reveal the vetted independent agent matched to you — licensed in your state, appointed with dozens of carriers. No account, no obligation.

Your state Policy type

Path i.

Have a policy already? X-Ray it.

Upload what you've got. Get the AI breakdown, plus a vetted independent agent who reviews it and tells you straight — switch or keep.

Upload & Reveal

Path ii.

Just shopping? Talk to an agent.

Skip the X-Ray. Get matched with a vetted independent who shops the whole market for you. No captives, no pressure, one phone call.

Find My Agent

The Dossiers.

View all 29 files →

File 108 · Regulatory Dossier

Is Your Agent Required to Put You First? It Depends on the Product, the Account, and Your State.

There is no uniform national fiduciary duty for life insurance and annuity sales. The 2016 Department of Labor fiduciary rule was struck down by a federal appeals court in 2018, and a 2024 replacement was stayed and then vacated. What remains is a patchwork: the SEC's Regulation Best Interest for securities, a state-by-state NAIC 'best interest' standard for annuities adopted in most states, and ordinary suitability elsewhere. Whether your agent must put you first depends on the product, the account, and where you live.

Verdict: Watch File 108

File 107 · Regulatory Dossier

The Two Numbers Congress Changed in a Christmas-Week Spending Bill

In December 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act rewrote Internal Revenue Code Section 7702 — the definition of a 'life insurance contract' for tax purposes — swapping the fixed 4% and 6% interest assumptions set in 1984 for lower, floating rates (2% and 4% in 2021). The change lets more premium go into a policy before it becomes a taxable Modified Endowment Contract, which reshaped how whole life and IUL are designed and priced.

Verdict: Watch File 107

File 106 · Regulatory Dossier

The Death File Insurers Read Only One Way

State regulators found that life insurers used the Social Security Death Master File to cut off annuity payments to people who had died — but did not use the same file to find and pay life insurance beneficiaries, who often never knew a policy existed. Multistate settlements from 2011–2018 (John Hancock, MetLife, Prudential and dozens more) forced insurers to cross-check the death file both ways. California regulators reported nearly $10 billion in benefits returned to beneficiaries nationwide.

Verdict: The Ugly File 106

File 105 · Regulatory Dossier

The Silent Rate Hike: When Carriers Raised the Cost of a Policy You Already Owned

Beginning around 2015, Transamerica, AXA/Equitable, Lincoln National, John Hancock, and Voya raised the non-guaranteed 'cost of insurance' charge on older universal life policies — often on insureds over 70 with large death benefits. Policyholders sued, arguing the increases weren't justified by mortality and were designed to recoup losses or force lapses. The carriers settled for a combined total well over $800 million, most including multi-year freezes on further increases.

Verdict: The Ugly File 105

File 097 · Product Type Dossier

Variable Universal Life: Two Products, One Fee Stack

Variable universal life invests your cash value in market subaccounts with no downside floor, then layers mortality-and-expense charges, fund fees, premium loads, and a rising cost of insurance on top. Sold on an 8–10% hypothetical and locked in by a 7–15 year surrender schedule, it fits a narrow set of buyers and quietly punishes everyone else.

Verdict: The Ugly File 097

File 098 · Product Type Dossier

The Life Insurance Sold at the Closing Table

Lender-sold mortgage life coverage is usually group credit life: the benefit tracks your declining loan balance, the lender is the beneficiary, and the premium is often rolled into the mortgage so you pay interest on it for the life of the loan. A level term policy you own does the same job for less and pays your family instead of the bank.

Verdict: The Bad File 098

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