National Life and Accident Insurance Company - "Sick and Accident" Policies

"Sick and Accident" Policies

In the early years, the company's business consisted primarily of low-premium, low-benefit "sick and accident" policies, a form of disability insurance that paid the owner a stated amount for every week he was unable to work due to illness or injury. To prevent fraud, it was necessary for the amount of the benefit to be somewhat less than what the insured earned through regular employment. The vast majority of these policies, especially in the early years, were sold on the "debit system" (also called "home service insurance"), meaning that an insurance agent employed by the company, usually the one responsible for selling the policy initially, made periodic visits to the clients home to collect the premium (and, generally, to sell or attempt to sell more insurance). The frequency of these visits varied but was usually (especially in the early years) weekly; in later years, more of the collection visits were on a biweekly or monthly basis.