How Long Does The Approval Process Take For Life Insurance

The thought of applying for and getting approved for life insurance initially seems like a daunting task. But today, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Magnificent technological strides in the life insurance industryhave been made, allowing companies to create quick life insurance quotes specifically tailored to customers in minutes. So then, realistically, how long does the approval process take for Life Insurance?

Easy Article Navigation

• How long does the approval process take for Life Insurance 
• What is Underwriting?
• What factors are considered in the underwriting process?
• Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance
• Simplified Issue Life Insurance
• No Medical Exam Life Insurance
• Fully Underwritten Life Insurance
• Factors that can Slow Down the Underwriting Process
• How Underwriters Get Your Information
• How Long Does Approval Take?

How long does the Approval Process take for Life Insurance?

Depending on the type of life insurance policy you are purchasing and other factors, a life insurance application can be completely filled out and approved within 24 hours or could take a few weeks or even months.

What is the process for being approved for life insurance?

Most insurance policies must undergo underwriting to be approved. In this process, rates are determined based on each individual’s assessed risk.

What is underwriting?

Underwriting is the process by which insurance companies assess an individual’s risk to determine premium rates. This is based on statistical analysis of multiple factors.

This being said,

What is the role of an underwriter in an insurance company?

An underwriter’s main role is to ensure that applicants are charged the appropriate premium for the desired level of insurance coverage. Insurance underwriters are responsible for getting the appropriate information from an applicant’s medical records, credit history, driving records, and more and then using this information to determine the risk an applicant poses to an insurance company (i.e., what the chances of them dying before the end of the policy’s term).

How long does the life insurance underwriting process take?

As I stated above, the underwriting process can take as little as 24 hours or as long as a couple of months (or longer, in some cases).

The length of time it takes depends on a lot of factors involving your health and lifestyle profile. Follow along as I dive deeper into the underwriting process, the various types of underwriting, what to expect in the process, and how long the underwriting process can take.

What factors are considered in the underwriting process?

Before an underwriting decision is made, underwriters need to account for all elements that determine your overall risk. If we look back to our underwriter definition, it becomes easy to understand why underwriting is the longest parts of the life insurance application process,.

There are quite a few factors that are taken into consideration during the life insurance underwriting process:

• Health history, family health history, age, gender, height, weight
• The purpose of the insurance policy (estate planning, final expenses, business, or individual life insurance).
• The amount of the death benefit
• If the applicant has life insurance already, how much coverage, or if the applicant plans on buying additional coverage?
• Occupation (more dangerous jobs are higher risk)
• Income
• Smoking habits, alcohol, hobbies, lifestyle
• International travel

Each of these questions regarding your health history and lifestyle helps insurance underwriters determine your overall risk profile to the insurance company. The higher risk you are in their eyes, the higher your premiums will likely be.

For instance, if you work on skyscrapers, cleaning the windows on the outside, 800 feet above the ground each day, you are probably a much higher risk than, say someone who works behind a desk all day.