What has changed about underwriting life insurance during COVID-19? Almost everything about our lives has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, our businesses, our schools, and our favorite restaurants. Another thing that has changed is the underwriting process for life insurance, which varies by carrier.
Transamerica
One of the carriers with the most drastic changes to their applications and clients that they will accept is Transamerica. Under the new COVID-19 guidelines, they will no longer be accepting applications for clients over the age of 75 altogether and there will be no living benefits for the policies with clients between the ages of 56-75. Along with these changes, the company will also no longer cover long term care riders or chronic and critical living benefit riders.
Foresters
Another carrier with changes to their application and underwriting process during the pandemic has been Foresters. Like many other carriers, Foresters has begun including a COVID-19 related questionnaire in their application process with questions such as:
- Within the past 30 days, has a parent or sibling living in your household been diagnosed with or been treated for COVID-19 (Coronavirus)? If “Yes”, please provide details.
- Within the past 21 days have you returned from travel outside the United States? If “Yes”, please advise as to the country traveled to and the date of return to the United States.
If a client answers yes to any of the questions that are presented in the questionnaire then they are ineligible to gain coverage for 60-90 days and must reapply when this period has passed.
National Life Group
National Life Group’s underwriting process has changed some as well; with their EZ Underwriting system’s limit going up from $1 million to $3 million. The EZ Underwriting system allows for much faster application and decisions on new policies, and this change allows for more potential new policyholders to utilize this benefit.
Why The Processes Have Changed
During a public health emergency as large as COVID-19, insurance companies are taking on more risk by introducing new policies since the outcomes are very uncertain in these times.
Got Life Insurance Questions?
We hope this information on Underwriting Life Insurance During COVID-19 is helpful. If you’d like to learn more about life insurance policies and carriers, please give us a call at (888) 539-1633.
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