Monday, July 18, 2016

Interesting Industry Trend

Our friend Joe L at Issue Insurance tells us that (at least) 3 life insurers have introduced accelerated underwriting programs that promise to cut both the time it takes to get a policy issues and save wear-and-tear on clients' veins.

For example, Banner Life offers AppAssist, which is available for face amounts up to half a million dollars. It does away with medical exams, labs and doctor's notes. The carrier promises that qualifying applicants "can be approved by the next business day, or even faster."

I must admit, this feature has me scratching my head:

"One inch automatically added to client’s height to potentially boost the rate class"

I mean, I get where that could be helpful in assigning a rate, I just don't get how they accomplish the feat: elevator shoes?

So, what makes one a "qualifying applicant?" Well, that will vary from carrier to carrier, but generally speaking: ages 18 to 50, and the carrier will do a 'script check' (for various medications) and run an MVR (for major traffic violations, such as DUI). Assuming the client is on few (or no) meds and has a clean driving record, he or she should be good to go - quickly.

SBLI and Lincoln Financial offer similar programs, all with the goal of streamlining the underwriting process.

I think this is a good trend: for one thing, faster (but careful!) underwriting means less hassle for the client. Be interesting to see how far this spreads.
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