Accelerated underwriting, also called “express underwriting,” lets people buy a regularly priced life insurance policy without taking a medical exam or giving blood and urine for lab testing. Instead, insurance companies only ask you to fill out a medical questionnaire. They decide whether you qualify based on those answers as well as your pharmaceutical records, driving history, and credit score. While convenient, accelerated underwriting does have some restrictions compared to policies with full medical underwriting. Here's how to decide if this process is right for you.

How Does It Work?

Accelerated underwriting allows qualified applicants to purchase a life insurance policy with no medical exam. The application process doesn't require a paramedic to visit the applicant’s home to collect blood, urine, and vital signs. It also doesn’t require the applicant’s physician to submit a written statement about the applicant’s health history or provide copies of their medical records. Eliminating these steps drastically speeds up the approval process.

The insurance company will ask you to fill out a medical history questionnaire to see if you qualify. The insurer will also check your pharmacy and motor vehicle records as well as any past insurance applications. While some insurance companies have been offering accelerated underwriting for years, others are just coming on board, and many insurers don’t offer it yet. It is not a distinct type of life insurance; it’s just a faster process for issuing policies.

It's Not Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

Life insurance that uses an accelerated underwriting process is not the same as guaranteed issue life insurance, also known as simplified life insurance. Guaranteed issue life insurance has higher premiums, limited death benefits, and a death benefit waiting period but is available to anyone regardless of health.

“Simplified issue means that there is no requirement for a physical exam, but your expectation is that you’re going to pay more in premium than someone who went through full underwriting,” said Samuel R. Price, an independent insurance broker with Assurance Financial Solutions in Birmingham, Ala.

It's Not Accelerated Benefits

Accelerated underwriting shouldn’t be confused with the accelerated benefits rider that many life insurers offer. If a policy has this rider, you can access part of your policy’s death benefit while alive if you become terminally ill.This type of benefit can help pay for the medical costs of treating a terminal illness, and the benefits (once accelerated) are deducted from the policy owner's remaining death benefit.

How Much Insurance Can You Buy With It?

Policies that offer accelerated underwriting will have a minimum death benefit amount, typically $50,000 or $100,000, as well as a maximum death benefit that is usually no higher than $500,000 or $1 million. In some cases, the maximum policy amount allowed with accelerated underwriting depends on your age. For example, Protective Life offers policies of $100,000 to $1 million to applicants ages 18 to 45 and policies of $100,000 to $500,000 to applicants ages 46 to 60, according to its underwriting guide.

Getting an accelerated underwriting policy doesn’t exclude you from other benefits associated with traditional, fully underwritten term policies, such as level premiums, term-to-permanent conversions, and continued coverage at higher rates after the policy’s term expires, as well as riders for accelerated benefits or waiver of premium. It's the same coverage, just with a faster underwriting process.

Are You a Candidate?

The ideal candidate for accelerated underwriting is someone who is in the age range and seeking a policy amount within the limits the insurer allows, as described in the previous section. The applicant should also have no major medical conditions (such as cancer, diabetes, or hypertension) and no biological parent or sibling who died before age 60 from heart disease or cancer. Healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels are also key. Certain non-health factors also matter. You should have no history of bankruptcy in the last five to 10 years, no history of driving recklessly or under the influence within five years, no more than two moving violations in the past three years, and no felony charges or convictions. Requirements vary by insurer. Why do insurers look at factors that aren’t related to your health? Shaun McDuffee, AEP, CLU, ChFC, CEPA, senior vice president and senior partner with North Star Resource Group in Austin, Texas, says that insurers have found that better credit scores equate to a longer life. If certain negative risk factors show up during the information-gathering phase or if not enough positive risk factors are present, you may need to proceed with full underwriting to get approved, especially at the best rates (preferred or super preferred). You’ll then have to complete a medical exam and get a doctor’s statement, which will lengthen the application process.

Finally, be aware that some insurers randomly require certain applicants to go through full underwriting even though they might qualify for accelerated underwriting.

How Much Faster Is It?

Traditional life insurance underwriting can take several weeks. Accelerated underwriting, however, can speed the process up by two to four weeks. Some insurers even offer a 48-hour turnaround time.

In addition to skipping the exam, completing the entire application process electronically and by phone instead of via paper and mail dramatically speeds up approvals. Insurers can obtain the data they need instantaneously from the Medical Information Bureau, credit bureaus, motor vehicle departments, pharmacy databases, and other sources. Approval can occur as soon as immediately after the phone interview.

Does It Mean Higher Premiums?

A client who qualifies for accelerated underwriting will generally pay the same premiums as someone who undergoes full underwriting, Acker said. “This is because the insurance company may still request full underwriting based on results of a detailed personal history interview,” he explains. “This is unlike true guaranteed issue or non-medical life insurance policies, where no physical exams are ever required. Carriers charge a significantly higher premium for these plans since they know that mainly unhealthy consumers will choose these products.”

Pay attention to the rating you can get under this process. If the insurer only offers a standard rating to express underwriting applicants, the policy will be more expensive than if the applicant went through the full underwriting process and qualified for one of the better, less expensive insurance risk classes given to applicants in good to excellent health: standard plus, preferred, or preferred plus.

Also, McDuffee added, the accelerated underwriting process might give applicants a more expensive preferred or standard rating due to their imperfect credit history, while they could get super preferred if they did full underwriting due to their excellent health.

The Bottom Line

As insurers get better at analyzing data, they could become more willing to skip a medical exam for new applicants. If you’re in very good to excellent health⁠—and have good credit and a clean driving record⁠—there’s a good chance you’ll be approved.

Just remember that the insurer likely will limit how much coverage you could buy under accelerated underwriting, and if you want the very lowest rates, you might still qualify for a better deal after taking a medical exam. A qualified insurance broker can tell you more about whether you might qualify and help you find the life insurance policy that offers the best value for your situation.