Life insurance is created to adapt with you through life situations you will be faced with to ensure that you and your loved ones are protected. The Coronavirus pandemic has resulted with insurers having to review their policies to ensure that their clients are protected.
This means that a change in the underwriting process has been made, but what does this mean for you as a client?
What is the underwriting process?
If you ever wondered why your premiums differ from the next person, it is because of the underwriting process. The underwriting process is carried out by life insurers to ensure that you are adequately covered. An underwriter is like a tailor who makes sure that your life insurance policy fits you like a glove.
An underwriter will assess the risk you pose in terms of making a claim and how much coverage you will receive without placing an insurer at a loss. You can fall into a low, average, or high-risk category. This will then affect the premiums that you are likely to pay.
The impact of COVID-19 on life insurance
Most life insurers are currently evaluating their policies to make sure that existing and non-existing clients are appropriately assessed for future risk imposed by this virus. Clients’ insurance policies with MiWayLife are quite important in these uncertain times, keep your insurance policy active by paying your insurance premiums.
The underwriting process is not red tape or a trap. Instead, it is there to protect you and your loved ones, which is why it is important, when taking any insurance cover, that you answer all the questions truthfully.
How the underwriting process affects your policy?
Should you require or want to take out a life insurance policy, specifically with COVID-19 in mind, keep the following three sub-groups in mind, and disclose if:
You have been tested and confirmed to be Infected by COVID-19
You have been exposed, directly or indirectly to people who have been tested and confirmed positive for COVID-19
If you have recently travelled abroad
What will happen to an existing clients policy if they have tested positive?
Should you be tested positive for the COVID-19 and you already have life cover with MiWayLife, you will be covered. If you have answered all the questions truthfully during the underwriting process, you will still be covered.
It is important to always update your insurer on any medical conditions that could be life threatening so that your cover is up to date. But in cases where you were unaware that you may have a certain medical condition or COVID-19 and you pass on, you will still be covered.
The only time where your application for a policy could be denied by an insurer is if you have tested positive or you are currently under investigation for COVID-19, which is what they call PUI - i.e. a person to be tested for COVID-19, or are guilty of non-disclosure of your status during the underwriting process.
