Underwriting is the process that insurance companies go through to make sure you are insurable, which means you are able to qualify for insurance coverage. Determining whether you are insurable depends on three major factors: your health, age, and income. As a dental student you will not have to worry about your income – the insurers know that you are temporarily limited in income while you are undergoing training and paying for a expensive education. However, as a dental student you still qualify for disability insurance, but the amount is capped at $5,000 per month of benefits.
So let’s walk through this process to show you what you can expect every step of the way.
1. How do you get started? After conducting a needs analysis an insurance agent needs to take your application for disability income insurance. This will include basic information like your name, phone number, address, as well as questions about your health history. This process generally takes 15-30 minutes.
2. What happens next? Your application will be submitted to the insurance company, and they will order a medical exam. You may schedule the exam on any day and at any time that suits you. The best part is that you will not need to go anywhere to complete it. The examiner will come to your home or to your place of work. Though the exam is the part of the underwriting process that most people fear, it’s actually really painless. The medical exam is pretty standard; a nurse or paramedic will draw some blood, measure your height and weight, take your blood pressure, and ask you some medical questions.
3. Now that my medical exam is behind me, am I approved? Not yet. From this point the insurance company will review the results from your medical exam, and request your medical records from your primary care physician. Getting your medical records from care provider can sometimes delay the approval process. After these are received and reviewed, the insurance company makes you its “offer,” which is usually what was presented to you by the agent. By this we mean: they will tell you how much they can insure you and how much it will cost. The typical underwriting process takes four to eight weeks.
4. How much will the underwriting process cost me? Absolutely nothing! The insurance company pays for the entire underwriting process. And you will not be required to pay for your policy until underwriting is 100% complete, and you accept the insurer’s offer.
5. What happens if I decide not to purchase the policy? You are not required to purchase the policy, nor are you out any money, nor will it affect you in any way. The medical exam that you completed will be good for 6 months, so we can reapply later if you change your mind.
Good luck!
~Dan Marolis, Financial Services Associate, Treloar & Heisel
This content is sponsored and does not necessarily reflect the views of ASDA.
No comments:
Post a Comment