Overview:
The application procedure for life insurance for individuals with felony convictions is straightforward, yet approval hinges on the specifics of your criminal offenses and past activity.
Can a Felon Get Life Insurance? Read Our Ultimate Guide to Getting Approved With the Best Rates in [2024]
Can you get life insurance with a felony, you sure can. Applying for life insurance for convicted felons is a little more
involved than most conventional life insurance applications. But the applicant can succeed if they use the right life insurance company.
The life insurance industry knows that people are only human and can all make mistakes, but they still consider felons a higher risk.
Applying for life insurance for convicted felons promotes underwriters to find out who this applicant really is to properly view their application.
A felony conviction on your record is not the end of the world when purchasing life insurance for convicted felons. Unfortunately, the statistics show that people with criminal histories tend to live shorter lives.
This blog post will go over everything you need to know to enable you to apply, get approved, and receive the lowest rates possible with a criminal record.
Table of Contents
- Can Convicted Felons Get Life Insurance?
- 68% of Applicants Are Approved
- Time Elements of Criminal Records
- Life Insurance for Felons Q & A
- Life Insurance for Convicts in Prison
- Carriers Consider the Nature of Crime
- What Do Companies Take Into Consideration?
- Questions Your Application Will Focused On
- Will a Felony On My Record Affect My Rates?
- How Do Health Conditions Affect My Rates?
- Can I Apply Without Taking a Medical Exam?
- Cost of Life Insurance With a Felony
- Records That Make Getting Approved Difficult
- In Conclusion
Is It Possible for Individuals With Felony Convictions to Obtain Life Insurance?
The statistics show that about 87% of life insurance with a criminal history applicants have no idea that a criminal
charge on their record could inhibit them from buying life insurance.
Trying to qualify for life insurance for convicted felons can go from no problem to impossible, depending on exactly what kind of offense it was and its specific details.
The felony class of convictions makes it much harder than misdemeanors. One in every three American adults has a criminal record. The exact specifics of your felony, especially the same offense and how severe it was, are examined closely by the underwriting team at the insurance company. Life Insurance Criminal Record
The bottom line is what you did to get arrested and convicted will determine if you will get approved or declined.
For example, a person convicted of murder, rape, or child molestation will be out of the question. Felony convictions are steadily rising in the United States. The request for life insurance for convicted ex-felons has increased 8% in the last year.
A significant number of life insurance companies in the US provide coverage for felons. The approval process hinges on the specifics of the offenses committed.
Study Reveals That 68% of Ex-Convicts Secure Approval for Life Insurance
Many applicants for life insurance with a criminal history can be approved for life insurance because most have mild and nonviolent criminal offenses. Individuals with more severe felony charges, which are usually violent, usually have no interest in buying life insurance in the first place. Life Insurance Criminal Record
In addition, many of these convictions are for a white-collar crime which is more acceptable from an insurance company’s standpoint than a person convicted of assault, battery, or a sex crime.
An essential fact to bear in mind is that no death claim will be processed if the beneficiary was killed during the commission of a felony.
Does the Time Aspect of My Criminal History Carry Significance?
All life insurance companies want to zero in on when you committed the crime you were convicted of. If the crime appears to be an isolated incident and the conviction date was several years in the past, we will consider this.
On the other hand, if you were convicted multiple times for a felony degree crime. This will indicate that you did not learn from your experience and will likely decline your application.
If the crime was an isolated incident that occurred years earlier, there is a likelihood that your application could be approved. Life Insurance Criminal Record
You can expect your application to be declined if you are actively on probation or parole. However, you still have the opportunity to re-apply at a later date. If you apply for life insurance for convicted felons and your application is declined, you can re-apply later.
Obtaining Life Insurance with a Felony Conviction: Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Can I buy life insurance with a history of violent crimes?
A. Many questions will need to be answered here such as the exact nature of the violent crime, how long ago was the
violent crime committed, how many times have you committed a violent crime to date and how old were you when you were convicted of this crime. A history of violent crime could go either way as far as being approved.
Q. Can I buy life insurance with a history of multiple criminal convictions?
A. Life insurance companies will look at this as a case of not learning your lesson. The track record for this is poor and the applicant will appear to be a repeat offender who will be back in prison on a regular basis increasing the percentage of being killed either in prison or by being killed in the act of committing the crimes.
This will lessen your chances of being approved but additional questions will have to be answered to know for sure.
Q. Can I buy life insurance for felons with firearm-related offenses?
A. Using a gun in the commission of a crime will indicate you were contemplating killing someone when you performed your criminal act. This will just about destroy your chances of buying life insurance. Your application will most likely be declined because of a gun-related felony conviction.
Q. Can I apply for life insurance with a sex-crime conviction?
A. Normally you will be declined for any sex-related crimes such as rape or child molestation convictions.
Can Convicts Serving Time in Prison Obtain Life Insurance Coverage?
Suppose you are a convicted criminal confined to a state or federal prison. Your chances of getting approved for conventional life insurance are incredibly slim. Life Insurance Criminal Record
However, you can apply for a final expense policy, otherwise known as guaranteed issued life insurance. These policies have guaranteed acceptance, usually with two years for the policy to pay the face amount.
Death benefits are generally up to $25,000, with some companies having a $35,000 maximum. If you die before the two-year elimination period, the policy will only pay out the number of your premiums. These are Whole Life policies.
Do Carriers Take into Account the Specifics of My Crime?
Most of all, the life insurance companies will be mainly concerned with what type of crime you committed. Also, applications with violent crimes against people, such as murder, battery, or rape, will undoubtedly decline.
Life insurance companies that insure felons put a lot of weight on the nature of the crimes.
Crimes such as drug sales convictions far enough in your past could be approved as long as you have been clean from corruption for 3-5 years. Repeat offenders will never meet the guidelines and can be declined from coverage, as many Americans with college diplomas have felony convictions.
Factors Considered by Life Insurance Companies?
These categories are all prevalent to law-breaking offenders and the usual associations that they keep:
- High risk lifestyles
- Poor overall health due to incarceration
- Heavy tobacco use
- Excessive alcohol use
- Narcotics use and addiction
- Serious Diseases contracted in jails
- Greater chance of accidental death
- Death from the commission of a crime
- Filing a bankruptcy
Life insurance companies consider felons low-risk, and the statistics support this belief. However, purchasing life insurance for felons with a serious offense with bodily injury is more complicated.
A significant number, approximately 44%, of criminals who have served their time and been released from prison are re-arrested within a year, leading insurers to worry about their future criminal activity.
The Significant Questions Your Application Will Be Based On
Here are some essential questions the companies will want answers to before they proceed with processing your application.
The Type of Crime You Committed – The severe felonies such as murder, armed robbery, terrorism, rape, sexual assaults on minors, and narcotics sales will decline right from the get-go.
However, you have an excellent chance of being approved if you were charged with a minor charge such as vandalism, fraud, or theft.
When You Committed a Crime – The more mild crimes are reviewed less severely as time passes. The longer it’s been since you committed the crime, the better.
This holds unless you have committed additional crimes since then. Purchasing life insurance with a criminal record is much easier if the crime was committed in the past.
Number of Crimes You Committed – Committing multiple crimes will peg you as a repeat offender and drastically reduce your chances of being approved for life insurance for felons.
Current Status of Your Crime – Are you still on probation or parole for the crime you were convicted of?
Crime Severity – If your crime was violent against persons inflicted with physical or mental injury, you could quickly decline your application.
Does Having a Felony Record Affect the Cost of My Insurance?
Usually, unless your criminal charges are mild, your rates will be affected in one way, shape, or form. This is because anytime a risk exposure increases for a life insurance company, they have to charge for that additional risk based on their statistical reports.
Life insurance companies’ rates are built on the statistics that they pay statisticians every year. This is the only way to be fair with the consumers and their ability to pay death claims as requested yearly.
What Impact Do My Health Conditions Have on My Insurance Premiums?
Health conditions are your primary concern with your application for life insurance for felons and criminal charges. Your history of any brushes with the law will be secondary in this case.
Depending on the health conditions you may have. The health classification you will be assigned will be adjusted accordingly with the added risk your health conditions impose.
Suppose your health conditions are not in any way life-threatening. In that case, they probably will not make any difference in your premium if you apply for life insurance for convicted felons and have any severe medical conditions.
Again, this is because the life insurance company will be more concerned with your health than your criminal record. We run a quick medical pre-screen on our applicants in order to determine what carriers to use and be able to give you an accurate premium to expect.
Pre-screening is nothing more than simply asking a few questions to eliminate any surprises later during the course of the application process.
Can I Apply Without Taking a Medical Exam?
Another option is applying for life insurance with a felony and skipping the medical exam. The plan design is called No Medical Exam Life Insurance or Non-Med Life Insurance.
The best part about not having medical exam life insurance is that no medical records are typically requested. Also, there are no para-med exam visits with the typical blood test either.
Non-Med policies have very short turnaround times, and some companies can approve you within 24-48 hours. The number of asked questions is far less than their full underwriting counterparts.
How Much Does It Cost to Secure a Life Insurance Policy for an Ex-Convict?
The cost of your life insurance will depend on many variables, such as your health history, a hazardous occupation or sport, your parent’s longevity, and several other factors.
However, due to your criminal offense, you should call us seven days a week, and we can pre-screen your situation and point you in the right direction.
Once we know the terms of your criminal offense, we will contact several companies on your behalf to find out who will offer the lowest premiums. The situation is simple, but we want to ensure you receive accurate information.
Applying for life insurance for felons with a violent criminal record will be more challenging, especially if the victims were severely beaten and injured. It would be the same for life insurance for felons with assault convictions on their records.
An Applicant With These Criminal Records Faces Challenges in Getting Approved
These seven types of felons will find it very difficult to get approved for coverage at any price.
*Life Insurance for Felons With a Violent Criminal Record…
*With an Assault Conviction
*With a Firearm-Related Record
*With Multiple Convictions
*With a Rape Conviction
*With a Child Molestation Conviction
*With a Child Pornography Conviction
Keep in mind that you can apply over the phone to save time!
Our Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this blog post provides a lot of insight into buying life insurance for felons. The easiest thing to do is
give us a call seven days a week and we will answer all your questions
Applying for life insurance with a criminal offense is not tricky, but it does require a little more legwork on your agent’s part to focus on the best life insurance carriers for your specific situation.
All the best,
Jack Venturi
*For any questions you might have, our live chat system is at your disposal or call us at 815-390- 7545 and we will provide a quick answer.
If you have any questions about life insurance for convicted felons. Contact us today to help you at no cost or obligation. You can also set up a time at your convenience to talk.
