Life Insurance Medical Requirements

Life Insurance Medical Requirements vary from policy to policy and company to company. Some policies are known as “no medical life insurance” since there is no medical requirements.

In general most Canadian policies have some medical requirements. The following summary should give you an idea of what might be required. These requirements vary depending on the policy size, policy type, your age and the insurance company.

Many policies are non-medical. A non medical policy is one where health history questions are asked but no exam is required (i.e. blood or urine specimen).Usually this is on life insurance benefit amounts smaller than $250,000.

Oral test - The insurer requires that you hold a swab in your mouth for 2 minutes. The swab collects your saliva and is sent to a lab for evaluation.

Para-medical - a nurse or health practitioner comes to visit you to check your height, weight, blood pressure, pulse and other vital statistics. This might also include a health questionnaire.

Urine - The insurer may request a urine sample. The sample is collected and sent to a lab for evaluation.

Blood - Larger policies (over $250,000) usually require a blood and urine sample. A large variety of health issues can be revealed in the lab results. This allows insurers to get a very accurate idea of your health and has helped to significantly lower Canada Term Life Insurance rates over the past decade or so.

Electrocardiogram (ECG) - at certain ages and life insurance policy sizes it is quite common for an Electrocardiogram to be ordered. This gives the underwriters a good idea of the insured’s hearts health.

Doctors Reports - The insurer might write to your physician for information about your health history. This is increasingly common in Canada.

Physical - The insurer may ask that you have a physical examination.

Life Insurance Medical Requirements are common among most carriers

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Note: Keep in mind that insurance licensing, legislation, and policies often vary by province and most certainly by country. Canada Insurance Source is a free information source. So use this site to gain a general understanding of insurance with your own area and situation in mind. This insurance information is general in nature and the policy wordings always take precedence. Make sure you review the "please read" page.