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Last Updated on July 9, 2024 by Insurdinary Editorial Team | Fact Checked by Rhonda Gary -->
Life insurance can provide financial security and earnings options for those who get them. If you speak with a financial consultant, they will likely suggest you acquire some form of life insurance if you haven’t already.
However, some people face a wall that hinders them from trying: the medical exam. Did you know that some life insurance policies allow you to apply without doing a medical exam? Read more to learn how to get life insurance coverage tailored to individual circumstances that suit your needs.
Life insurance functions as a contract between an insurance company and a signee. Upon the signee’s passing, a beneficiary, whether a person or an entity, receives the death benefit in a lump sum. That sum usually comes tax-free, allowing the beneficiary to pay bills, maintain their lifestyle, fund education, and more.
Before the insurance company agrees to enter a contract with you, they want to know how much of a risk you may be. Insurance risk assessments review several factors, including:
They can then label you based on a risk assessment scale to determine your insurance premiums. For example, a middle-aged woman with a good driving record may have lower insurance premium estimates than a young man who smokes and skydives.
Medical exams also factor into the risk assessment. Physical and mental health disorders can increase someone’s likelihood of passing. In such cases, the insurance company may raise their quotes for rates and premiums.
Insurance companies typically raise rates on those with a higher passing risk to ensure they have due funding for all their policies. A higher risk increases the likelihood they will need to provide the lump sum sooner rather than later.
The information from the exam may also help the company determine personalized coverage solutions. Life insurance has various riders you can add to acquire coverage aligned with your needs. The exam determines which riders you may need, leading agents to suggest some as they customize your plan.
When you apply for a usual life insurance policy, the company requests and reviews the information you provide for them. After checking your application, they may send you a medical information form to fill out. The medical information they request may ask about you and your family’s medical history.
Then, they generally have you schedule a date for a medical physician to visit you and acquire some additional health data. Their visit may include several actions or orders for future procedures, such as:
The visiting physician may also ask about your mental health history, any potential drug use (alcohol included), and more. Their visit should generally take a few minutes but allow you to continue with the rest of your day afterward.
Once the insurance company has evaluated all the information, they classify you from preferred plus to substandard. Higher premiums usually apply to smokers regardless of which risk classification they receive.
As a note, you should answer all questions truthfully to acquire coverage tailored to individual circumstances you face. Insurance companies can review the questions you answered and compare them to available data about your health. If they notice purposeful or accidental falsification, they may reject your application.
You can get life insurance without going through the medical exam process. These policies usually fall under simplified issue, guaranteed issue, or final expense labels.
Simplified issue life insurance does not require an in-person medical exam. Instead, it may have a longer health questionnaire or ask more questions about other life aspects, such as your hobbies or occupation. Tailored insurance plans require certain information about your health circumstances to ensure you acquire the coverage you need.
These policies come in term and whole life forms, allowing you to choose a specific timeframe or a permanent policy. Generally, you must be under 65 years old to apply for this insurance type.
You can apply for a guaranteed issue policy if you want to forego all exams and questionnaires. However, these plans usually have stipulations for applicants.
For example, you generally cannot apply for a guaranteed issue policy if you are under 40 years old. Most insurance companies limit guaranteed issue applicants to between 40 and 80 years old. Additionally, they tend to limit coverage compared to traditional life insurance policies, ranging from $5,000 to $100,000.
Final expense life insurance emphasizes burial and funeral expense coverage. While it does keep the same benefits as a whole life policy, including accumulating cash value, it mainly works to cover funeral costs. Therefore, most policies don’t cover more than $20,000.
While that amount may pale compared to a traditional whole life policy, you typically pay less in premiums than if you tried to get simplified or guaranteed issue life insurance. While this type of policy typically markets toward seniors, people of any age with terminal or chronic illnesses can also apply.
Exam-free policies exist as the industry’s effort to create tailor-made insurance solutions for anyone who needs them. Many people have reasons they decide against going the traditional route when applying for their life insurance:
Even without the medical exam, you can still acquire coverage tailored to individual circumstances you deal with using riders. Simplified issue, guaranteed issue, and final expense life insurance all have riders you can attach to create individualized insurance policies.
For example, you can get an accidental death rider on final expense life insurance, which can double the benefit you signed in the policy. The rider activates if the signee dies in an accident, though it will depend on how the company defines an “accident.” Still, if the signee’s death applies, their beneficiaries get twice the death benefits, allowing them to better care for themselves.
A family income benefit rider added to a simplified issues policy changes the death benefit from a lump sum to monthly payments. The signee can decide how many months to stretch the death benefit and how much their beneficiaries receive each month. Then, the beneficiaries can rest assured they will have a steady income for the period the policy stipulates.
If you have applied for traditional life insurance and faced rejection or did not like the proposed premium, you could try exam-free options. Depending on certain conditions, you may be able to lower your premium amounts.
While you could lower premiums, applying for exam-free life insurance could produce the opposite. Final expense life insurance premiums typically stay low because of how small the coverage can be. However, simplified and guaranteed issue policies tend to be more expensive than traditional options.
Without your more detailed medical health data, the insurance company must work harder to estimate your risk classification. They may also look at other data to help them determine this, including your driving record or credit score, though the latter isn’t as common.
They may raise your premium options further if they notice you have some marks on your driving record or a low credit score. They may raise them more than traditional policies because they don’t have the official health data and only see your habits in other areas.
Additionally, if you have a long medical history, the insurance company may reject the option to get exam-free life insurance. Instead, they may require you to apply for traditional insurance so they can complete a medical exam.
Lastly, no-exam life insurance policies typically have a lower death benefit limit than traditional ones. Some of the most expensive traditional policies allow signees to acquire millions in life insurance death benefits. Comparatively, exam-free policies usually top off around $2 million, which may not be enough for what you want to do.
Different life insurance companies specialize in certain types of life insurance policies. To find the one with coverage tailored to individual circumstances you face, use Insurdinary’s industry-leading search options.
We work with the best insurance companies in the world to help you find coverage for any lifestyle needs. You deserve customized coverage options to secure your financial future faster and more effectively.
Use Insurdinary to find the best exam-free life insurance policy options for you, or contact our customer service team for hands-on assistance today. Our platform allows you to compare plans, rates, and more to ensure a good fit.