Guide
No-exam life insurance
Who qualifies for expedited underwriting, how it works, and what happens if you do not.
Many carriers now provide accelerated underwriting: within age and amount boundaries, they evaluate using the application, prescription records, driving history, and other information instead of a medical exam. Decisions often arrive the same day. Each quote on this site notes whether an exam is required, may be required, or is not needed.
What it changes
Accelerated approval does not skip underwriting. Your responses get verified, and a policy issued on false information can be challenged in the first two years. If the carrier finds questions after checking your data, it may ask for an exam or lab results; you decide whether to go forward.
Who tends to qualify
Usually this means being under about 60, applying for amounts within the carrier's accelerated limit, with no serious health issues and having avoided tobacco for at least a year. Some carriers accept recent blood work from your doctor instead of a new exam.
When an exam is required, a paramedical examiner typically comes to your home or workplace in the Redwood City area for a 20- to 30-minute appointment, at no charge. For many healthy applicants, exam results help improve your underwriting class, so it can work in your favor rather than against you.