Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Safety Uber Alles

Depending on the carrier, one's age and the face amount at (potential) risk, many life insurance applicants must undergo a paramedical exam (or more). This usually entails a service obtaining blood and urine specimens, taking a blood pressure reading, and the like. Given the current CV-19 situation, I wasn't surprised to receive this notice form our primary carrier:

"With the coronavirus, ExamOne has been taking precautions when performing exams for your clients.  Below is a link to their site for updates on how they are responding and implementing safeguards.  Due to the declared state of emergency requiring all non-essential businesses to close, examiners are no longer performing exams in Pennsylvania (entire state) and the San Francisco Bay area (San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and the surrounding counties). This is effective immediately."

And of course, that moratorium may soon extend to other states, as well.

This means that at least a few folks will gave to wait on their new policies to be underwritten.

Now, there's an interesting twist here: when one initially makes application, if one also includes a check for the first premium with that app, one is issued a "conditional binding receipt." This obligates the company during the underwriting phase, but only so far: "It provides that the applicant is covered immediately from the date of application as long as he or she passes the insurer's underwriting requirements." [emphasis in original]

One can imagine the role this little tidbit may end up playing here...

[Hat Tip: FoIB Major B]
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