How Long Does It Take to Get A Term Life Insurance Policy?

How long does it take to get a term life insurance policy in force? For this blog I will 

assume that you are applying for coverage that requires a medical exam. The quick 

answer is that you can have coverage in place as quickly as 3 weeks, or it could take 

six months or more. However, most cases are 1-2 months.

You and your agent are the most important factors in the timetable. Your agent is 

responsible for getting you the application, setting up your exam, sending that exam 

to the carrier, and getting any other requirements the insurance company wants. The 

more organized your agent is regarding follow up, the faster requirements get 

completed. If you want a speedy turnaround time, you have to respond to your 

agent’s inquiries promptly! In our office, we communicate with our clients at least 

weekly to inform them of any outstanding requirements and/or keep them apprised 

of where they are in the underwriting process.

Your time frame in returning the application to 

your agent is the first step. Well, actually, how 

fast do they get the application to you? Next is 

how quickly can you have your paramedic exam? 

After that, the ball is in the insurance company’s 

court.  Life insurance underwriting is the next 

step!

Once the insurance carrier has your application and paramedic exam, your lab report 

will be ordered. This will go to an underwriter for an initial review. If no other 

information is needed, your application can be approved with this information. 

Usually these are policies where the insured gets a super-preferred or preferred 

rating (the two best underwriting classes).

Based on your medical history and your lab results, the underwriter may want to 

review your doctor records. This is where things can bog down! The records get 

ordered and... I have seen records come in the next day, and I have seen records take 

2 months or more to be released. If your records are at the VA Hospital, or Kaiser 

Permanente or another large HMO or hospital, they may require a special 

authorization as well (and it may take 1-2 weeks to find this out). A good agent calls 

the doctor’s office to see if a special authorization is required- sometimes we can 

save 2 weeks with just one call! Then your agent should follow up regularly with the LifeNet Insurance Solutions

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copy service to move this process along and, if necessary, have you call the doctor 

directly to assist.

So all in all, you and your agent are the most important factors in keeping your

application moving through the process. In general, without medical records being 

ordered we have policies in place usually within 4 weeks. With ordering records we 

average about 2 months. We try to make the process painless for you by keeping on 

top of things!

THE CONCEPT OF RISK

It would seem that the term risk is a simple enough

notion. When someone states that there is risk in a

particular situation, the listener understandswhat is

meant: that in the given situation there is uncertainty

about the outcome, and the possibility exists that

the outcome will be unfavorable. This loose, intuitive

notion of risk, which implies a lack of knowledge

about the future and the possibility of some

adverse consequence, is satisfactory for conversational

usage, but for our purpose a somewhat more

rigid definition is desirable.

Economists, statisticians, decision theorists, and

insurance theorists have long discussed the concepts

of risk and uncertainty in an attempt to construct

a definition of risk that is useful for analysis

in each field of investigation. So far, they have

not been able to agree on a single definition that

can be used in each field. A definition of risk that

is suitable for the economist or statistician may be

worthless as an analytic tool for the insurance theorist.

Because each group treats a different body

of subject matter, each requires a different concept

of risk. Although the statistician, the decision

theorist, and the insurance theorist all use the

term risk, each may mean something entirely different.

Insurance is still in its infancy as a body of

theory. As a result, we find contradictory definitions

of risk throughout the literature dealing with

this phenomenon from an insurance point of view.

One reason for these contradictions is that insurance

theorists have attempted to borrow the definitions

of risk used in other fields. Surprising as

it may seem, insurance text writers have not been

able to agree on a definition of this basic concept.

To compound the problem, the term risk is used

by people in the insurance business to mean either

a peril insured against (e.g., fire is a risk to which

most property is exposed) or a person or property

protected by insurance (e.g., many insurance companies

feel that young drivers are not good risks).

In this text, however, we will use the term in its general

meaning, to indicate a situation in which an

exposure to loss exists.

Term Insurance

Term insurance covers you for a term of one or more

years. It pays a death benefit only if you die in that

term. Term insurance generally offers the largest

insurance protection for your premium dollar. It

generally does not build up cash value.

You can renew most term insurance policies for one

or more terms even if your health has changed. Each

time you renew the policy for a new term, premiums

may be higher. Ask what the premiums will be if

you continue to renew the policy. Also ask if you will

lose the right to renew the policy at some age. For

a higher premium, some companies will give you

the right to keep the policy in force for a guaranteed

period at the same price each year. At the end of that

time you may need to pass a physical examination to

continue coverage, and premiums may increase.

You may be able to trade many term insurance

policies for a cash value policy during a conversion

period — even if you are not in good health.

Premiums for the new policy will be higher than you

have been paying for the term insurance.

Ref:

Guide to Life insurance &Annuity Contracts

John Kasich
Governor
Mary Taylor
Lt. Governor / Director