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Do I have to pay for medical tests during term insurance application?

13 Feb 23      |       | ShareShare Share Blog Or copy link Copy Share this link via

Authored by: Anurag Ainapurapu
Reviewed by: Krupa Kenia

The Long Read


Everything you *need to know* is right above this. Scroll down, only if you'd still like to read more (honestly, why?)

Medical tests in a term insurance application are absolutely free of cost. 

 

But it may vary from insurer to insurer so it is always good to confirm with your life insurance company.

Relax, you don’t need to pay for medical tests even if your term application gets rejected later on. 

 

But it depends entirely on your life insurance company so be sure to check and confirm with them first. 

 

Find out more about the various term insurance rejection reasons.

Yes, medical test for term insurance remain free even if you take them at home and even if your term application gets rejected later on. 

 

Taking medical tests at home at the time of term insurance application is becoming increasingly common these days, driven largely by COVID restrictions and also their sheer convenience. But as always, it's best to check with your insurer as it depends entirely on them. 

Generally, the insurer provides you with the lab or the list of labs to choose from, for getting your tests done. But, you may be able to choose a test laboratory of your choice as per your convenience, even if it doesn’t have a tie-up with your insurer. You can get the cost of the tests reimbursed from your insurer. 

 

Remember, it depends entirely on your insurer. It’s best to check and confirm with them before you proceed to take the medical tests.

When you are applying for a term plan, you have to take a lot of medical tests which will allow the insurer to determine your health status and approve/reject/postpone your application. 

 

Some of these tests are the following:

 

  • Urine test

  • Blood tests including CBC

  • Lipid profile

  • Blood pressure

  • Liver and kidney function

  • Fasting blood sugar

  • ECG/TMT/2D Echocardiography

  • Ultrasonography

  • Chest X-RAY

  • HIV

  • Treadmill test



Remember, this is not limited to the above list of tests. You may have to take more medical test for term insurance if your insurer feels the need.

Yes, you can buy a term plan without medical test. 

 

But it's not recommended at all. Here's why:

 

Firstly, there's a high chance of your claim getting rejected.

 

See your medical test results help your life insurance company get a clear picture of your health and accordingly decide your policy premium. 

 

Say you did not take these tests at the time of application. Later on, if the insurer realises that the cause of your death was a pre-existing medical condition, they may reject your term insurance claim. 

 

Find out why term insurance claim gets rejected and its causes.

 

Buying term insurance with medical tests helps you ensure your nominee can easily claim your policy money with no hassles or chances of rejection.

 

Secondly: Term policies with no medical tests usually offer lower life covers

 

This is because the insurer doesn't know about any underlying medical conditions you may have that might increase your risk of death. So to compensate for this unknown risk, they may offer you a low life cover, compared to what you'd have gotten had you undergone the medical tests before buying a term plan. 

 

This low life cover may not be enough to meet your family's needs.

 

And thirdly, medical tests are free of cost*

 

So why wouldn't you want a free health checkup that the insurer pays for? 

 

*depending on the insurer

It depends. If you choose to undergo the medical tests in India, you will get the tests for free or you may also get them reimbursed by the insurer, depending on their policies. 

 

But if you undergo these tests in your resident country, then you may have to pay for them. 

 

Find out more about term insurance of NRI and the process you need to go through while buying a term insurance policy.

No, you only need to take the medical tests when applying for a term insurance plan. Once you take them, you don’t need to take them again for the duration of your term insurance policy. 

Yes. depending on your age, specific health conditions, and other factors, you may be asked to take multiple rounds of medicals by your insurer at the time of application. 

 

For example, if the underwriter has a few questions related to your health condition or they want to know more about a past disease (which you suffered from) that you revealed, they may request follow-up tests just to be sure of your current health condition. 

 

But do not worry, you will not have to pay for any multiple rounds of medical tests that you need to undertake. Your insurer will bear the cost.

Yes, if you end up cancelling your policy during the free look period, your insurer may charge you for the medical tests that you had taken during the term plan application process. But it is best to check with your life insurance company to get complete clarity on this.

Unfortunately, yes, on medical grounds, term insurance application can get rejceted.

This kind of rejection typically happens if you are diagnosed with a critical or terminal illness. In such cases, your insurer may find you to be too risky to offer a term plan and hence they may decline your term plan application. 

 

If that happens, you should just focus on your treatment instead. 

 

Remember, this decision will depend entirely on your insurer, along with on what you have declared in your term plan application form and your medical test results.

 

Another thing you must keep in mind: If one insurer rejects your term insurance application on medical grounds, it will likely get rejected by others too. So find out the reasons for rejection from the insurer you have applied to and then plan the way forward accordingly.

It depends. 

 

Your life insurance company may want to know about your family health history because if your immediate blood relatives have a history of certain illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer, etc, then you are at risk of being diagnosed with these conditions as well. 

 

Having said this, your insurer is most likely to focus on your individual health profile and take a decision on your premiums based on that. This process is known as medical underwriting. 

 

Based on underwriting, they’ll either

 



Now your insurer can consider a premium hike or even ask you to get additional medical tests done only if 

 

  • There are multiple cases of chronic ailments in your family; and/or

  • Your family members have been diagnosed with these conditions before they turned 60
     

This will, of course, vary from insurer to insurer. 

 

If there’s a history of chronic illnesses in your family,  you may be asked to provide information about

 

  • Your own medical conditions

  • Age of death of certain family members

  • Any pattern of untimely deaths in your family
     

If the insurer observes these medical conditions in your reports too, only then they may charge a higher premium. ‘

 

Also, when asked by your insurer, truthfully answer the questions about your family health history, unless you want to risk claim rejection. 

 

Find out more about how your family medical history can affect your term insurance premium.

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