Life Insurance Underwriting: Aig's Process And Timeline

AIG Life Insurance offers a wide range of policies, from term life insurance to accidental death and dismemberment insurance. The company strives to make insurance accessible to everyone, regardless of their medical history, and continuously updates its underwriting rules and processes to improve the customer experience. With a focus on providing protection to as many people as possible, AIG's medical underwriting assesses how they can accept applicants rather than reasons to reject them. This inclusive approach, combined with advancements in medicine, ensures that individuals with various conditions, such as asthma, HIV, high blood pressure, mental health issues, or back pain, can obtain the necessary coverage.

In this context, understanding the timeline for AIG's life insurance underwriting process is essential for prospective customers seeking timely financial protection.

AIG's underwriting process for people with pre-existing conditions

AIG's underwriting process is dedicated to providing more people with access to insurance, regardless of their medical history. Their philosophy is to "start from yes", focusing on how they can approve applications rather than deny them. This is reflected in their acceptance rate, with 83% of applicants being accepted for insurance.

For instance, AIG provides life insurance, critical illness cover, and income protection to individuals with a history of cancer. Life cover applications can be considered as early as one year after treatment for certain early-stage cancers. After ten years, most cancer survivors can be accepted for critical illness and income protection insurance, with potential standard rates for the latter.

AIG also offers life insurance to individuals with well-controlled HIV. If the client's HIV is controlled with treatment and they meet specific criteria, such as undetectable viral load, normal liver and kidney function, and no other significant associated disorders, their life cover can be considered with a potential premium increase.

Additionally, AIG accepts most people with raised blood pressure at standard rates for life and critical illness cover. They recognise that individuals may not recall their exact blood pressure readings, so they have developed straightforward questions in their online underwriting system that ask for information applicants are more likely to know.

AIG also provides income protection for people with diabetes, recognising the potential for diabetes-related complications and the need for financial cover during prolonged periods off work.

For individuals with asthma, AIG's underwriting engine can accept the vast majority of applicants immediately, with most offered standard rates. Ratings are typically applied only if the applicant also smokes or has other respiratory conditions.

AIG's critical illness plan covers all types of mental health, acknowledging its importance alongside physical health. Most applicants with mental health difficulties have mild and controlled conditions, such as depression, stress, or anxiety. AIG may increase the premium if there have been long periods of time off work, recent changes to treatment, or a history suggesting more severe mental health issues.

In the case of back pain, AIG accepts most applicants at standard rates for life and critical illness cover unless the condition is very severe. For income protection, they typically exclude coverage if symptoms have occurred within the last two years. However, if there have been no symptoms for over five years, income protection is offered at standard rates. If symptoms were between two and five years ago, the offered terms depend on the severity and frequency of episodes.

While BMI is the most common reason for a rating to be applied for life cover, AIG only increases premiums for 16% of applicants due to obesity. They do so because being overweight can increase the risk of other health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

AIG's underwriting process for pre-existing conditions aims to be inclusive and accessible, providing insurance coverage to individuals with a range of medical backgrounds.

AIG's underwriting process for people with raised blood pressure

AIG's underwriting process is designed to be inclusive, with a focus on saying 'yes' to insurance applicants, regardless of their medical background. This is reflected in their acceptance rate, with 83% of applicants being accepted for insurance.

For people with raised blood pressure, AIG has made efforts to simplify the process of getting life insurance. They have redesigned their blood pressure rule to offer immediate terms to applicants with a history of raised blood pressure who are undergoing treatment. This allows most applicants to get a decision immediately, without needing a GP report.

AIG's online underwriting system asks easy-to-answer questions, recognising that it can be challenging to remember exact blood pressure readings. These questions focus on information that applicants are more likely to know.

If an applicant's raised blood pressure is well-controlled with treatment, AIG will typically accept their application at standard rates, without increasing the premium. However, if there is an indication that the blood pressure is not adequately controlled by treatment or the diagnosis is very recent, an increase in the premium may be applied.

In summary, AIG's underwriting process for people with raised blood pressure is designed to be accessible and efficient. By staying up-to-date with medical advancements, they aim to provide quick and easy access to insurance for individuals with this common medical condition.

AIG's underwriting process for people with raised cholesterol

AIG's underwriting process is designed to be as inclusive as possible, giving more people access to insurance regardless of their medical background. The company is committed to keeping up with medical advancements to ensure its underwriting processes are informed by the latest developments.

AIG's Underwriting Rules Engine (URE) has been designed to make it easier for customers to get life and health cover. The URE's modern look, improved technology, and simpler questions make it straightforward for people to apply for insurance and provide AIG with the necessary information.

AIG has simplified the underwriting process for people with raised cholesterol. The company has improved its system to provide applicants with immediate decisions and reduce the need for GP evidence. This means that more applicants with raised cholesterol will receive an immediate offer, including on critical illness applications.

AIG's online underwriting system asks easy-to-answer questions that do not require applicants to remember their exact blood pressure readings. Instead, the system asks for information that applicants are more likely to know. This approach ensures that applicants can get the cover they need quickly and easily, with 96% of applications receiving an immediate decision.

AIG's underwriting process for people with diabetes

One critical factor in AIG's underwriting process for diabetics is the HBa1c test, which indicates how well the applicant has managed their blood sugar levels over the last two to three months. AIG is typically able to offer life cover to diabetic customers, but the premiums are generally higher. In the best-case scenario, where the applicant is older, has controlled blood sugar, and has no complications or other health issues, AIG may offer standard terms.

The company's focus is on providing access to insurance for people with diabetes, and they have updated their underwriting rules to make it easier for consumers to obtain life and health cover. AIG's Underwriting Rules Engine (URE) uses modern technology and simpler questions to streamline the application process and provide faster decisions for customers. This engine also enables the underwriting team to make agile rule changes and easily add new sources of underwriting data, increasing their ability to insure more people.

AIG has also made improvements to specific underwriting rules to provide better customer outcomes and enhance access to insurance. For instance, they now ask more questions of women previously diagnosed with gestational diabetes instead of immediately seeking a GP report, resulting in quicker decisions. Additionally, AIG has simplified questions about raised cholesterol and reduced the need for GP evidence for applicants with diabetes, enabling more applicants to receive immediate decisions, including on critical illness applications.

AIG's underwriting process for people with a history of cancer

AIG's underwriting process is dedicated to giving people more access to insurance, no matter their medical background. Their medical underwriting focuses on how they can say 'yes' to an application, rather than why they should say 'no'. This means that people with a history of cancer can get life insurance, critical illness, and income protection.

AIG's expert online medical underwriting system means that life cover applications can be considered as soon as one year after treatment for some early-stage cancers. For critical illness and income protection insurance, most cancer survivors could be accepted after ten years following treatment. Income protection could be at standard rates, while critical illness insurance will usually have a full or partial cancer exclusion. For life cover, some applicants can even be accepted with immediate standard rates.

AIG is continually developing its underwriting to keep up with advances in medicine so that more people can get insurance with them.

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