What Is Checked for Getting Term Life Insurance?

Term life insurance is temporary insurance that provides coverage for you and your family. Unlike permanent insurance, term life only provides insurance for a specified number of years. You'll also have to go through an underwriting process to determine your eligibility for insurance.

Identification

A life insurer will ask you for basic information like your name, age, height and weight. The insurance company will also ask for medical and non-medical information like any health conditions you have and whether or not you are on any prescription drugs. The insurer will also want to know who your doctor is. Finally, the insurer will request a health exam which includes a blood and urine sample.

Benefits

Gathering all of your information helps the insurance company to determine how much the insurance will cost. This cost, called a premium, accurately reflects the risk to the insurer and ensures that you are not over or under-charged.

Considerations

If you are uncomfortable with an extensive health questionnaire, you can consider buying simplified issue term life insurance. This type of insurance costs significantly more in premium, but there are few or no health exams.

References

• "Life & Health Insurance, License Exam Manual, 6th Edition"; Dearborn Financial; 2004
• "Practicing Financial Planning for Professionals (Practitioners' Edition), 10th Edition"; Sid Mittra, Anandi P. Sahu, Robert A Crane; 2007
• "Life Insurance"; Kenneth Black, Jr., Harold D. Skipper, Jr.; Prentice-Hall Inc.; 1994