De-Risking the Life Insurance Underwriting Experience
Life insurers order paramedical exams, labs, and EKGs to uncover emerging, undiagnosed medical issues. Elevated glucose, liver functions, or cholesterol are among the more common surprise findings. Such results can lead to ratings, postponements, or declines. By de-risking the life insurance underwriting experience, you can now help your clients avoid these unnecessary complications.
De-Risking the Underwriting Experience
Several new exam and lab-free underwriting programs have come on the market in 2023. Life insurance buyers love the convenience of these programs! They may qualify for several million dollars of coverage from top insurers without invasive testing. Policies are issued in as little as one day. Pricing is identical to fully underwritten coverage, so there is no downside. Even super preferred rates are available! With that, which of your clients wants to expose themselves to the risks of adverse exam findings when there is a much easier, de-risked way to buy life insurance?
Significant Insurance Needs
One highly rated mutual life insurer now invites younger applicants to apply for up to $5,000,000 of exam-and-lab-free coverage. But what if your client needs more coverage? In such settings, they may be able to access one of two additional de-risking strategies: policy stacking and sequential policy placement.
Stacking Life Insurance Policies
Some insurers allow the stacking of their accelerated underwriting programs. This means applicants can apply for several exam-and-lab-free programs at the same time, securing additional life insurance, without hassle or risk.
Sequential Policy Placement
Most life insurers still require a paramedical exam, labs – and sometimes even an EKG – for applications above $5,000,000. Have your clients experienced ratings, or worse, due to a new finding of T-wave abnormalities on their insurance-ordered EKG? Let’s avoid those for as much coverage as possible!
As your clients’ advocate, recommend they apply for exam-and-lab-free underwriting first. This way they may be able to lock in favorable offers – before you order additional testing that might introduce surprise results. Safety first! While sequential policy placement requires a bit more effort, it is the least risky method to acquire significant amounts of life insurance for the lowest possible cost.
Executive Underwriting Programs
Business owners and employees who have executive physicals every 12 – 18 months may now qualify for much larger policies without insurance medicals. Executive underwriting programs are offered by about a dozen of the industry’s most experienced insurers. Healthy applicants may qualify for up to about $100,000,000 of coverage without insurance physicals.
For jumbo policy needs above $100,000,000, some type of current testing is usually required. In such settings, your clients can still exercise some level of control over underwriting outcomes by sequentially layering their applications and policy placements.
The New Normal: Exam & Lab-Free Underwriting
De-risking the life insurance underwriting experience via exam-and-lab-free underwriting should be the default strategy for most applicants. Call your CPS Advantage representative, or request a callback via email. Let’s put our heads together and plan your client’s next life insurance application without hassle – and without exposing them to easily avoidable risks.
