Underwriting Guidelines For Life Insurance Plans

By William Patricks

When you are in the market for a life insurance policy there are many types that you can choose from. This tends to be a very confusing thing for many individuals, therefore your best option would be to seek the assistance of an insurance professional. An insurance professional will be able to assist you in finding the best plan available to protect your family and your loved ones.

Once you have made a decision about the type of life insurance plan you are interested in, it will be time to compare life insurance plans to be certain that they are all similar and will provide the benefits that are most important to you. Once this has been established, you will want to request life insurance quotes from the various companies you are considering for your purchase. These quotes can vary considerably as each company weighs specific information differently.

There are many factors that companies look into when providing you with a life insurance quote. Some of these factors include age, gender, weight, height, physical condition and medical history. Also included in the factors are your habits, especially smoking and drinking, you occupation, where you live and hobbies (such as military services or sky diving).

Depending on the Underwriting department, of the individual insurance companies, each of these factors carry a different weight. Normally they are all assigned a number and the numbers are added (or subtracted from your total). For example, if you are a smoker they may add 20 points to your total, on top of that you drink. There are various levels of drinking but for this scenario lets say you have three beers a night, this may add 10 points to your total. Now lets also say you enjoy skydiving, well this may be another 20 points. So far the total point count is 50. Now they look at you physical conditions. You are average weight, therefore they subtract 5 points, your medical history is clear so another 10 points are subtracted and your family history is also healthy therefore they may take off another 10 points. Now your total points are 25. When this is the method that is used to give you a quote you will want the lowest possible number in order to get the cheapiest quote available to you. You should not lie, however, in order to get a smaller quote. If it is discovered that you were not honest your policy will be dropped and you willnot be refunded any of the money you have already put into your policy.

Once you have received all your quotes you can then make an educated purchase on your life insurance policy. Before your policy is effective, however, you will need to complete all the required medical examinations and possibly some blood work. Some companies even test urine for drugs and smoking, therefore remember to be completely honest on your inital paper work or you will have to start the process all over again. - 33372

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