Syndicated Financial Columnist, Host of the weekly talk show Steve Savant's Money, the Name of the Game, Scottsdale Arizona
Video Transcript: Today's question is, How long does it take to get life insurance? Well, generally speaking, it takes about 60 days. You're going to have to fill out an application. You're going to have to take a paramed exam. They're going to order attending physician statements from your doctor. So when you do full underwriting, it takes between 60 days, and sometimes, depending upon if the carrier is very popular, it could take longer, up to 90 days.
Keep in mind, if you don't want to go through the full underwriting process, you could do simplified issue or you could do guaranteed issue. That would cut the time down. What you're giving up by doing that is, without full underwriting, you're just going to be used... the boilerplate that they're going to use for simplified and guaranteed is not going to be as cutting edge from a price point of view. You'll probably wind up paying a little bit more. But if you want to really expedite your issue and get your policy in place, those two ideas could be a way to go.
The time it takes to get life insurance is from a few hours, to a few months.
If you apply for a No Exam policy with a company that does not order medical records, the processing time is usually a few days to a few weeks. Some are put into effect shortly after applying via phone interview.
If you apply for a policy that requires paramed exam and medical records, the amount of time that it takes to go into effect will depend on how soon you take the exam, and how soon your medical records come in.
The underwriter usually waits until everything is in before reviewing your case. If at review time, he or she finds that you had seen another doctor, they might order additional records, which causes further delay. It is helpful to list all the doctors you have seen in the past 5 years on your application, or else even collect medical records yourself, in order to get your policy in effect ASAP.
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Keep in mind, if you don't want to go through the full underwriting process, you could do simplified issue or you could do guaranteed issue. That would cut the time down. What you're giving up by doing that is, without full underwriting, you're just going to be used... the boilerplate that they're going to use for simplified and guaranteed is not going to be as cutting edge from a price point of view. You'll probably wind up paying a little bit more. But if you want to really expedite your issue and get your policy in place, those two ideas could be a way to go.
If you apply for a No Exam policy with a company that does not order medical records, the processing time is usually a few days to a few weeks. Some are put into effect shortly after applying via phone interview.
If you apply for a policy that requires paramed exam and medical records, the amount of time that it takes to go into effect will depend on how soon you take the exam, and how soon your medical records come in.
The underwriter usually waits until everything is in before reviewing your case. If at review time, he or she finds that you had seen another doctor, they might order additional records, which causes further delay. It is helpful to list all the doctors you have seen in the past 5 years on your application, or else even collect medical records yourself, in order to get your policy in effect ASAP.