byron udell is the founder and president of accuquote, which helps customers shop for insurance companies. tell us more about this. what's going on here? > > you summarized it pretty well. insurance companies, because they are earning less money on the premiums, after they've accepted the premiums and they're waiting to make claims, they have no choice but to - because the rates are so much lower - they have to raise their rates. this is only affecting policies that are issued now, or in the future. they are not going to be affecting the policies if you own a policy right now - for instance, a 20-year level term, it will not affect your policies. > > insurance companies we're talking about - life insurance? > > all insurance companies are affected, because all insurance companies take money and wait for claims. but, i'm in the life insurance business, and in the life insurance business, what we have seen is carriers make 5-20% rate increases over the past few months, and more are coming. > > i was under the impression that now is a terrific time to buy life insurance. > > actually it is.