The days of the long, grueling approval process for term life insurance may be over.

New York-based MetLife and Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Financial Group recently announced a speeded up approval process.

"[We] often jokingly warn clients that getting approval for term life is like getting a root canal—a long, painful process," said Nora Yousif, a financial advisor at RBC Wealth Management, a family practice in Boston and Easton, Mass.

For many, that's no longer true.

MetLife's Rapid eUnderwriting and Principal's Accelerated Underwriting actually eliminate lab testing and medical exams for applicants who qualify and promise a decision within 48 hours instead of the usual month. The fast-track programs don't cost the applicant anything extra, and they use the regular applications, with a place to indicate a preference for the quick processing. "Applicants may only need to fill out the appropriate paperwork and conduct a phone interview," Yousif said.

Why are they offering this? It's partly a way to stand out in a competitive field without slashing prices. It also saves insurers the cost of performing unnecessary exams and tests. "They studied applicants who had been approved for super preferred or preferred to understand what factors they have in common," Yousif said. "They found that 50 percent to 60 percent of applicants tend to have a high number of favorable factors, and they're thus able to approve them quickly without labs and exams. ... Underwriting can therefore be conducted solely off data gathered in [the] application, phone interview, motor-vehicle report, prescription [history] and MIB report," she said, referring to the industry data collector formerly known as the Medical Information Bureau. "That will often be sufficient information to gauge applicants' lifestyle/health condition."

For clients, the benefits are obvious and there's nothing to lose. MetLife's program is open to applicants between the ages of 18 and 40 who are purchasing guaranteed level term coverage in 10-, 15- or 20-year durations worth from $100,000 to $500,000. Principal's extends to clients between 18 and 60 who are applying for standard universal, variable-life and term-life plans worth $10,000 to $1 million, with 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-year terms. If turned down, applicants "simply revert back to the traditional underwriting process and requirements," Yousif said.  

For financial advisors, this means an easier way to get clients to sign up for insurance. Without the time-consuming hassles, clients are less resistant to applying. "You, the financial advisor, are giving your clients a value-add option," Yousif said.  

Whether these rapid programs are signs of things to come remains to be seen.  Though other carriers may use words like "accelerated," Yousif insists that no one else is offering an equivalent program. "It could be this factor alone that makes [advisors] and clients choose one carrier over another," she added. "We typically put term insurance coverage out to bid in an effort to get the most cost-effective coverage for our clients. ... But now this is a nice sweetener that could sway our decisions, so long as the carrier is also competitively priced."