As a valued partner of Ethos, TruStage™ offers unique term and whole life products to thousands of our customers through agents like you.
Unlike other Ethos products, the TruStage™ product suite can only be hosted on the carrier’s website, so the TruStage™ application experience is different from other Ethos offerings. Many agents have asked us for guidance in managing TruStage™ policy activations, understanding the customer experience, and setting expectations for their clients.
Who is TruStage™?
TruStage™ Insurance products are issued by CMFG Life Insurance Company and MEMBERS Life Insurance Company. CMFG Life consistently receives excellent ratings from the major credit rating services and is rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best for its financial stability and operating performance (as of March 2022*). An “A” rating is the third-highest of 16 ratings awarded by A.M. Best. Founded in 1935, CMFG Life has helped protect more than 20 million people, including thousands of Ethos customers via our network of independent and enterprise agents.
What’s great about TruStage™?
In addition to their financial and operational strength, their underwriting platform is simple to use and provides quick decisioning, which is aligned with the Ethos value proposition. The majority of TruStage™ policies are approved with no additional underwriting requirements. TruStage™ products are designed to be an excellent fit for many middle market Americans. Because of this, TruStage™ enables agents through Ethos to insure many more Americans every year, with simplified coverage options up to age 85.
Who should I contact for questions about TruStage™?
For quick questions and general queries, please reach out to the Ethos TruStage™ Concierge team by email: tsconcierge@ethoslife.com.
What do my clients see if they are routed to TruStage™?
Clients who qualify for TruStage™ products are invited to apply on the TruStage™ website while they are completing their Ethos profile. Your client must apply to TruStage™ via the Ethos website for you to be credited with the sale. This is because Ethos creates unique attribution links for each client that tie a TruStage™ policy back to you.
Occasionally, a customer goes through manual underwriting and is determined to be ineligible for Ethos products. In this situation, the customer will receive an email from Ethos inviting them to apply for TruStage™ products via a link to the TruStage™ application platform.
How should I help my customer if they are routed to TruStage™?
If your client has elevated risk factors and you believe they may be routed to TruStage™, follow these steps to ensure their experience goes smoothly and that you are credited for the policy activation. Please review our Underwriting and Product Guidelines for more information.
- Let them know they may be automatically invited to apply for a policy with TruStage™ while completing their Ethos profile.
- Ask them to inform you once the application is submitted or approved.
- Advise them that if they have any questions, they should talk to you first before calling TruStage™.
- Let them know it may take 1-2 business days before you have their application status.
Note: To help ensure an attributable policy, make sure all applications are started from either your personal link or from the quoter in the agent portal.
What if my customer needs to call TruStage™?
Your customer should only directly call TruStage™ if they need to make changes to their policy – such as updating beneficiary or changing payment method. However your client should NOT complete the application with TruStage™ directly over the phone. In order for you to be properly credited for the policy, your client must complete the application from the Ethos portal or using your custom agent website link.
To make changes to their policy, such as updating beneficiary info or changing their payment method, please have your client login to their TruStage™ account at http://trustage.com/my-account/login or contact TruStage™ Customer Care at (855) 591-9026.
Note: Agents may not call TruStage™ directly to request changes to a client policy.
My client submitted a TruStage™ application and I don’t see it. Why?
TruStage™ sends data files to us daily on business days (weekdays excluding holidays). Because of this, it takes more time for a TruStage™ application to show up in the ‘Customers’ tab in your agent portal.
- Data files are sent on weekday mornings, Pacific Time.
- A policy activated Monday–Thursday will show up in 1-2 business days
- A policy activated on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or holiday will not show up until the next business day.
What is the usual data delay from TruStage™ to see the application on the portal?
Expect a delay of 1-2 days for applications submitted during the week, and up to 5 days for applications submitted during long weekends.
What should I do if I cannot find a TruStage™ policy in my Applications tab after this time period?
If it has been more than 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) since your client’s TruStage™ policy has been activated and you cannot see it in the Applications tab, please reach out to agents@ethoslife.com.
When you contact us, it’s essential to gather as much of the following information as you can:
- Your customer’s name, date of birth, and phone number
- Your phone number so we can reach you
The TruStage™ policy ID — your customer should have it, although we can look it up with their customer information if necessary.
- TruStage™ policy IDs start with “LC” or “MC”
Agents should expect resolution in about a week.
How can I find out if a customer was routed to TruStage™?
In the Customer tab of the agent portal, you can see if any customer who used your personal link to start the application was routed to TruStage™.
Under ‘Filter,’ click ‘Application Status’ and choose “Rerouted to TruStage™” in the menu options. This will display any client whose application was routed to TruStage™.
You should immediately contact the customer to find out more information. Make sure to get the application number.
How long does it take to receive my payout after a TruStage™ policy is activated?
An agent can only be paid after the customer's payment has been fully processed. It can take up to 12 days from the policy’s activated date for TruStage™ to process the customer’s ACH payment. Once payment has been processed, activations will be paid out on the next Thursday as with other activations.
What products does TruStage™ have?
Ethos offers the following TruStage™ products:
- TruStage™ Term Life Insurance: This term life insurance features an increasing premium every five attained age, and face amounts up to $300k for applicants up to age 69. It can be converted into a whole life policy at any time if the policy is in force up to the policyholder’s 80th birthday.
- TruStage™ Advantage Whole Life Insurance: This whole life insurance policy is designed to help with funeral expenses and other small debts, with coverage up to $100K for applicants up to age 85. It offers lifelong coverage and builds a cash value. The premium remains level for the life of the policy.
- TruStage™ Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance: This whole life insurance policy is designed to help with funeral expenses and other small debts. This product offers guaranteed coverage at lower face amounts than TruStage™ Advantage Whole Life (up to $25K max) for applicants up to age 80.
For comprehensive TruStage™ product information, please see:
- Our Ethos for Agents Handbook for full product information
- Our Underwriting & Product Guidelines matrix for side-by-side product details and knockout conditions
Where can I find the underwriting guidelines for TruStage™?
Please see our Underwriting and Product Guidelines matrix or our Ethos for Agents Playbook to find out which customers will best fit TruStage™ products. Because TruStage™ handles all underwriting on their policies, we are unable to provide specific reasons for declines.
How much will my customer’s premium go up on the increasing term?
It depends, but younger policyowners generally see smaller premium increases than older policyowners.
Is there a waiting period for TruStage™ products?
TruStage™ Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life has a two-year graded death benefit. During the first two policy years, the benefit for non-accidental death is limited to return of premium plus 10% interest.
Do TruStage™ products include Ethos wills & trusts?
No. Unfortunately, because TruStage™ products are not custom Ethos products, Ethos cannot offer the Ethos Perks rider which provides our no-cost wills & trusts.
If a customer is routed to TruStage™ because of inability to verify ID, and asked to reapply (this is what the status is on the agent portal) will the customer automatically get routed to TS again or can they get LGA/Ameritas?
They can try and reapply with a different email address, they might be able to get through if they verify the details correctly.
If a customer is RUW, gets approved and then closes out, can the application be manually reopened? If allowed, are there any time limits on manual re-opening? If not, will the customer be allowed to reapply and then be an instant issue or go RUW again?
RUW approvals are good for 45 days. After 45 days they will have to reapply. It very likely can go RUW again if they do reapply after the 45 days, but there is no guarantee.
If a customer is sent to TruStage™, applies, gets approved, and enters payment info, what type of confirmation does the customer receive that the policy is activated? How quickly do they receive that notification?
The customer will get a same-day email from TruStage™ (screenshot below), and receive their policy documents in the mail within 10-14 business days.
What is the best way for a customer and an agent to get info on a TruStage™ application? There have been places where we have referred to TS Concierge - is that still correct?
If an agent is looking for the status of a TruStage™ application, they can reach out to Partnership CX at ethosforagent@getethos.com. If a client needs help with an active policy, they will need to reach out to TruStage™ at 888-787-8243. If the client has questions about an application, the client can call 844-415-4216. As a reminder, TruStage™ will not talk to an agent about a client’s policy.