While it’s not exactly like cramming for your college finals, a little prep ahead of time can help your life insurance application go smoothly.

If you’ve already decided to buy life insurance, congratulations – you’ve taken the most important step. For many people, term life insurance is the best choice because of its affordability and flexibility. Before you apply for life insurance, you’ll need to choose the plan you want to buy, including the policy type, term length, and benefit amount that works for your needs and budget.

Once you’re ready to purchase a policy, here’s how to prepare for a term life insurance application.

What is required to apply for life insurance?

Since life insurance provides financial support in the case of your death, the main goal of the life insurance application is to better understand your life expectancy. This information allows insurance companies to set your rate and confirm your eligibility.

There are two ways to apply with Fidelity Life:

• Call us to talk to an agent who will guide you through the process. Phone applications typically take 20 to 30 minutes to complete, so you can easily get it done without taking up your whole afternoon.
• If you’re applying for our RAPIDecision® Life term policy, you may be eligible to apply and even buy online. The entire process takes about 10 minutes to complete, and you can apply 24/7.

A typical application covers:

Basic Info

This includes your name, address, date of birth, Social Security Number, and other identifying information, as well as whether you’re a smoker or tobacco user.

Your Medical History

Insurers will want to know the name, address, and contact info for your primary care provider and the date of your last visit. They’ll ask about your medical history and a range of medical conditions, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancers, diabetes, and asthma. If you’ve had any of the conditions, you may need to provide extra information, like when you were diagnosed, your treatment plans, and your prognosis. Later, you may be asked to undergo a life insurance medical exam to confirm that these details are accurate.

You’ll also be asked about current medications and drugs, including whether you drink alcohol or use recreational drugs. Insurers are typically looking for red flags, like a history of treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. Recreational drug use is still generally discouraged, though providers are starting to change their stance on cannabis.

Family Medical History

A history of diseases like stroke, heart disease, and diabetes in your family can affect your own life expectancy, so insurers want to know about any recurring conditions in your family members. They’re mostly concerned about whether any of these conditions have led to a premature death. If your parents or siblings had an illness, but didn’t die until later or are still living, you won’t need to worry too much about it affecting your eligibility.

Career

A life insurance application covers questions about your job, current employer, and annual income, which helps determine how much coverage you can qualify for. If you’re temporarily unemployed, you can still qualify for coverage and insurers will likely base eligibility on your salary history.

Criminal History

Convictions and driving violation questions are often part of a policy application, so make sure to have this information on hand. The insurer will usually just ask about incidents within a certain time period.

Lifestyle

Some hobbies are riskier than others and can increase your chance of death. Be prepared for questions about activities like rock or ice climbing, hang gliding, scuba diving, piloting a plane, skydiving, or car racing. There may also be some questions about upcoming trips (once it’s safe to travel again).

Plan Preferences

During the application, you’ll need to choose a beneficiary for the policy payout and provide their basic information.

The insurance company will also ask about payment preferences for your policy, so it can be helpful to have your credit card or banking information close by. At Fidelity Life, many of our plans offer coverage that can start the same day you apply.

What happens if I leave something out?

It’s very important to be as upfront as possible on your life insurance application.

Intentionally omitting information can come back to hurt you. The provider will check databases like the Medical Information Bureau to confirm the information you’ve submitted is accurate. If your insurer finds out something wasn’t disclosed, they can turn down your application and refuse to cover you.

After purchase, most plans have a contestability period of generally up to two years. If you die during that timeframe, insurers can look into your cause of death and potentially deny your claim if they discover an undisclosed condition or other discrepancy.

If you’re concerned that a health issue or other information may prevent you from qualifying for life insurance, be honest during the application process. Fidelity Life has a variety of plans available, so we can help you find one that works with your history and budget.

Still have questions?

Our team is here to help. Get in touch to talk with an agent or start your online quote today.

At Fidelity Life, our goal is to make life insurance simple, affordable, and understandable for everyday families. This content is intended for educational purposes only. Each post is carefully fact-checked, reviewed, and updated regularly to ensure the information is as relevant as possible.