Fear surrounding the coronavirus pandemic has launched consumers into a panic buying frenzy, as they rush to grab supplies such as food, water, toilet paper – and now, even life insurance.
Fabric, a life insurer that offers instant online policies and other financial help, says that it has seen a 50% increase in life insurance applications since mid-February. The company also noted that it has seen a similar increase in the online wills it provides.
Adam Erlebacher, CEO and co-founder of Fabric, told Forbes that most of the buyers “are thinking of ways to protect their families.”
It typically takes several weeks for the traditional life insurance application to process – it involves the application itself, a life insurance medical exam, and then the life insurer has to wait for doctors’ records to verify applicants’ information.
“A lot of folks get bogged down in the process and lose steam,” Erlebacher explained.
But contemporary life insurance companies now offer no-exam life insurance policies, which skip the medical exam. In Fabric’s case, the company also uses an algorithm that processes personal data to calculate rates. These options are generally available to younger and healthier people; those who do not qualify for the quick application version may have to go through the traditional process.
National online life insurance agency LifeQuotes also reported that it has seen a 29% increase in applications requested since January 20, 2020, when the existence of the coronavirus made global headlines.
“The modern life insurance policy covers death by any cause at any time in any place, except for suicide within the first two policy years,” said LifeQuotes CEO Bob Bland.
