In order to be eligible for accelerated underwriting, individuals must meet certain criteria. For instance, applicants must be under the age of 60, need life insurance that maxes out at $1 million and not have had a parent or sibling die from certain kinds of cancer prior to age 60. Also, the person’s stated blood pressure when asked must be less than 135/85, and they should not have a history of heart disease, cancer, sleep apnea, melanoma, alcohol abuse or drug abuse.
Accelerated underwriting offers reflexive questions and calibrates answers. For example, if a client answers yes to a question about a family history of cancer, more questions might pop up that delve deeper into that potential health issue.
Speeding Up The Timeframe
There are three possible outcomes to the accelerated underwriting process. The first is an immediate decision. Assuming advisors do their due diligence before proceeding with the application and take into account the type of person that accelerated underwriting was designed for, as high as 70 percent of applicants could get an answer after completing a questionnaire. In all, the process usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes, which sometimes can include an immediate interview with a tele-underwriter.
The second outcome is that the person could be eligible for accelerated underwriting, but further review of their application is required before making an offer. That could take a couple days, but it is still faster than a regular application period and does not require any invasive physical examinations or blood and urine tests.
The third outcome is the person does not qualify for accelerated underwriting, so they have to go through the full underwriting process. That might take three to six weeks and requires blood and urine tests, as well as a physical.
Clearly, the first two outcomes will benefit advisors who don’t believe the returns generated from selling a life insurance policy are worth the often-lengthy process that comes along with getting a client coverage. Assuming you pre-screened your client, chances are that you will be able to sell them a policy in less time than it takes to grab lunch from the corner deli.
Avoiding The Tough Questions
But what about the second problem many advisors have, which is that they don’t want to ask medical questions? Accelerated underwriting has a solution for that too!
By utilizing a drop ticket, the advisor asks the client a few basic questions (i.e., name, address and Social Security number) and then turns the client over to a tele-underwriter to handle the rest, either right then and there while the client is in your office or during a scheduled call.