Guide
No-exam life insurance
Who qualifies for accelerated underwriting, how it works, and what changes if you do not.
Many carriers now offer accelerated underwriting: for applicants within certain age and amount limits, they decide using the application, prescription history, motor-vehicle records and other data instead of a paramedical exam. Some decisions come back the same day. Each quote on this site says whether an exam is required, possibly required, or not required for that product.
What it changes
Skipping the exam does not mean skipping underwriting. Your answers are verified, and a policy issued on incorrect answers can be contested during its first two years. If the carrier's data raises questions, it may still ask for an exam or lab work; you can decide at that point whether to continue.
Who tends to qualify
Typically applicants under roughly 60 applying for amounts up to the carrier's accelerated limit, with no major health history and no tobacco use in the last year or more. If you have had a recent doctor visit with blood work, some carriers accept those results in place of an exam.
If you do need an exam, it is usually a 20- to 30-minute visit by a paramedical examiner at your home or office in the Los Angeles area, at no cost to you. Results often improve a rate class for healthy applicants, so an exam is not always a disadvantage.