New Life Policy Edition
The following is an excerpt from an internal memo titled “New Life Policy Edition,” distributed to Pacific Mutual employees in 1968. This memo highlights the company’s commitment to simplifying life insurance for the benefit of its customers.
A completely redesigned life policy form has resulted in the most readable, best designed and most highly automated policy form in the industry today.
There is an entirely new format and new language. There is an emphasis on read-ability and simplicity. It has been designed to utilize PML’s electronic equipment and produce a form with variable information tailored to the individual policyowner.
Emphasis has been placed on the redesign because the policy is the only tangible evidence the client receives of the intangible promises upon which he has based his purchase.
Some of these points are self evident, but let’s not forget that this policy—
- Could last a lifetime or beyond
- Portrays the Company to the policyowner. It must convey the correct image.
- Can close sales that are not completed until delivery
- Must stand the physical wear and tear of many years.
In designing the new life policy edition, PML had these goals—
- To create a policy that would serve as a prestigious symbol of PML, particularly in our Centennial year.
- To design a policy that would help, not hinder, our agents in the sales area.
- To formulate a policy that would explain to the insured the promises the Company makes in simple, clear language
- To produce a policy that is modern in content and design.
You will note the clear, direct language which avoids all legalistic, negative, or technical terms. All essential technical terms are defined in layman’s language. All awkward and cumbersome sentence structure has been avoided. . . .
The new policy form focuses attention on living benefits. It emphasizes the flexibility of permanent life insurance as an investment.
The magic of computer technology enables the new form to be personalized to the policyowner. For example the cash values schedule is not a lengthy display of cash values per $1,000 for 25 different ages. Rather it shows the exact amount of cash value, year by year, for this policy, calculated and printed by the computer.