How to Get Paid Faster: The Life Insurance Application Process

Following effective life insurance selling tactics can help you increase your customer base, boost your bottom line and also get paid faster.

Yes, it’s true.

There are things you can do to speed up application processing that will not only satisfy your customers -- but also speed up the time-to-bank, too.

Do you know what happens to a life insurance application?

When you submit a life insurance application on a prospect to a General Agency, you don’t get paid unless it’s processed in a timely fashion and a policy is issued.

It’s that process that you need to pay attention to.

Although the length of time it takes to process an application will differ from case to case, the overall steps in the procedure are about the same.

As an insurance producer, you should get to know what happens once you submit an application for life insurance to your General Agency.

If you're informed about what happens behind the scenes, you can make the communication process with the applicant that much more effective and eliminate the chances of a prospect changing his mind.

Manage the applicant’s expectation once she agrees to move forward with the policy, and as the process occurs, and you’ll end up with a more satisfied customer.

How the life insurance application process works

So, what exactly happens when you email or mail the application to the General Agent? Here are a few common steps included in the process:

1. Application Scrub. Your application is quickly reviewed to spot the most pressing omissions, such as missing signatures or a date of birth. Case managers or their assistants will follow a checklist of items that should be on the application and make sure everything is in good order. This includes checks to make sure the agent is appropriately licensed and has completed the anti-money laundering course, as well as setting up a carrier appointment (if the agent has not already done business with that carrier).
2. Ordering of Medical Records. The applicant’s age and the face amount being applied for might suggest the need for medical records. The General Agent may order those records from the applicant’s primary care physician.
3. Agent Acknowledgement. Generally, an initial status is sent to the agent acknowledging the receipt of the application and signal that the case is being worked on. This status would also indicate what’s outstanding and who’s responsible for obtaining that needed information.
4. Application Input. Meanwhile, the case is entered into the General Agent’s database. This could occur as the above steps are being worked on or sometime just after.
5. Case Submission to Carrier. Application and related forms are imaged to the insurance carrier and the insurance carrier sets up a file. The case is assigned to a New Business Case Manager and then to an underwriter.
6. Follow-Up. The General Agent follows up on the application on a routine basis, ensuring that outstanding requirements are being communicated to the agent.

Although the General Agent would normally submit your application to the insurance carrier in a timely fashion, most life carriers will not begin the underwriting portion of the case until all of the required documents are submitted.

That’s why it is so important that you submit your application in good order and include a detailed cover letter to the underwriter explaining the circumstances of the case and what you’d like them to know about the applicant.

When it comes to submitting a life insurance application, it always comes down to the money:

Understanding the steps that occur in the life insurance application process will increase your chances of a good outcome.

You can take that to the bank!