President | Founder, CLM Insurance Group, Delray Beach, FL
Life insurance will start on the desired effective date of the application provided the application has been approved, rate-ups, riders or any other policy changes have been accepted and premiums are paid. Since most life insurance companies require first months premium submitted with an application, once approved the policy will go into force.
Principal, LifeNet Insurance Solutions, Redmond, WA
Life insurance starts when the policy is paid and "in force" on the books of the insurance company. This assumes that the policy in not a graded benefit policy which generally goes into effect after 21 years, or a "guaranteed issue" policy which has the same exclusions. On regular life policies, a death benefit will be paid during the first 2 years except for fraud in the application or suicide of the insured.
While the definition is and seems simple, there is no more trickier issue in life insurance than when coverage starts. Most policies define start of coverage to be when the application is accepted and approved, payment is received and no outstanding policy delivery requirements remain outstanding. Interestingly enough, no agent has any binding authority with life insurance, which tells you right there how strictly the start-of-coverage rules are with life insurance. One word of advice: once you think your coverage is in force, ask for a note or letter stating so. Never assume that your coverage is in force until and unless all 3 conditions above have been met.
Great question! The simple answer is once it has passed through the underwriters and the policy is approved; your payment (which can be paid up to 30 days from the date the application is signed for some companies, btw) has been received and processed; and you have received and returned the "receipt of policy " notice that some companies will require. After those things have been accomplished, your policy will usually be in effect. Some States have rules that can affect when coverage begins also. The best thing to do is to call as soon as you see the first payment has cleared, and have them tell you the policy is active. I hope that helps, if you have more questions, contact me, I'm happy to help. Thanks for asking!
In Canada, with the majority of companies the life insurance policy officially starts after than policy is delivered to the owner and there are no delivery requirements outstanding. If there has been a chance in health since the application was taken then the policy has to be returned to the insurance company for review.
If some basic requirements are met then a temporary insurance agreement can be issued that lasts for s a stated period of days while the policy is being underwritten. As mentioned by Robert, do not assume ask and get it in writing.
If you have further questions, or feel that I could be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
If you would like to work with a local life insurance broker, you could start with a Google search. For example, if you search for: life insurance broker Halifax or life insurance agent Halifax, my name, along with several others, will come up. You can use the same method to find a life insurance broker in your community.
Business Development Officer, T.D. McNeil Insurance Services, Fresno, California
For the consumer, most companies provide a “conditional receipt” which places all or some of the coverage in force on the date of application. It is called “conditional” because the case must still qualify to be issued. If the cause of death is accidental, that requirement is often waived. Otherwise it is the date when the company accepts the risk and the insured pays the initial premium.
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If some basic requirements are met then a temporary insurance agreement can be issued that lasts for s a stated period of days while the policy is being underwritten. As mentioned by Robert, do not assume ask and get it in writing.
If you have further questions, or feel that I could be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
If you would like to work with a local life insurance broker, you could start with a Google search. For example, if you search for: life insurance broker Halifax or life insurance agent Halifax, my name, along with several others, will come up. You can use the same method to find a life insurance broker in your community.