The underwriting approval process may become frustrating when you need insurance right away.  The underwriting department of insurance companies may keep your application in pending mode for weeks waiting for health records and background checks to come in.  You might think that you could have done something to speed up the process and ensure your coverage but truth is, the insurance company will have their own guidelines for life insurance underwriting and will typically take as much time as they want to issue your policy. If you’d like to find out more about the underwriting process, visit the article “What is Life Insurance Underwriting?”

What can you do?

Make sure you answer all the questions on the application. Do not leave anything blank on the application form.  If you leave a question blank, there are many more forms that may need to be completed for proper issuance, not just answering the question. You could get into a bigger mess than you wanted to. During the underwriting approval process, the insurance company may run background checks to make sure that you have answered the health questions correctly and truthfully, so the truth will typically come out. Don’t be afraid to call your agent regularly. If you need the policy issued quickly, your agent might be able to help you. The agent is to work with the company and with you to get what you need and they are typically your advocate with insurance companies to help get you through the life insurance underwriting process.

The truth is that this underwriting approval process typically takes time and you may want to be prepared for that. Don’t wait until the last moment. Do your homework and research where and what type of life insurance policy you want to hold and read up on their life insurance underwriting guidelines. Make sure you disclose all appropriate information to your agent and hand in a complete application to help ensure that you have done everything on your end of the process.