Informal inquiries: testing an insurer's view before you apply

An informal inquiry is a question an agent or broker puts to an insurer's underwriters about a person who has not applied yet, with no name attached. The underwriter reads a short health summary and says, in effect, "on these facts, here is what we would likely offer." It is a way to learn where a complicated health history might land before an application leaves a trace in your file.

This post walks through the process in order: who can run an inquiry, how to write the summary, what the reply means, and how to sequence several inquiries so that you apply once, to the right insurer, with realistic expectations.

What an informal inquiry is, and what it is not

Underwriting normally starts with an life insurance application. You sign, you authorize record checks, and the insurer pulls the MIB report and a prescription database check. Those steps are recorded. Whatever the outcome, the next insurer may be able to see that you applied, and a decline or a rating can follow you into the next conversation.

An informal inquiry sits before all of that. The agent writes up your age, sex, build, tobacco status, diagnoses, medications and the amount of coverage you want, leaves out your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number, and sends it to one or more insurers. A senior underwriter reads it and sends back an informal view, sometimes called an informal offer or a pre-underwriting opinion. Practices vary by company, so treat the following as the general pattern rather than a rule.

An informal inquiry is:

• Anonymous. No identifying information, so there is no consent form and no database check.
• Non-binding. The reply is an opinion. The insurer is not promising a price, a class or an approval.
• Based only on what the agent wrote. The underwriter has no records, no lab values you did not mention and no outside reports.
• Usually run through an agent. Most insurers take these from licensed agents and brokers, not directly from the public.

An informal inquiry is not:

• An application, a quote, an offer or a contract.
• A way to avoid the exam, the records request or the database checks later.
• A reason for the insurer to give you coverage if the real file looks different from the summary.

Who can run one for you

A broker or independent agent can usually send the same summary to several companies and bring back the replies side by side. That is the main advantage of working with someone who represents many insurers. A captive agent represents one company and can generally inquire only with that company, so you would learn one view, not a comparison. See captive vs independent life insurance agents for how the two models differ.

Not every agent does this. Inquiries are most common with agents who handle people with health histories that do not fit a standard box: a past cardiac event, a cancer treated years ago, diabetes, a mental health diagnosis, a high build, a blood pressure that took several tries to control. If your history is clean and you plan to apply for a modest amount through a fast online process, an inquiry may be more effort than it is worth.

Good questions for an agent before you hand over your history:

1. Do you send informal inquiries to several insurers, or only to one or two?
2. Will the inquiry include my name, date of birth or anything that identifies me?
3. Is anything recorded in an industry database when you send it?
4. How long do replies usually take, and how many insurers will you ask?
5. Will you tell me every reply, including the unfavorable ones?

The guide questions to ask a life insurance agent has more on choosing someone to work with.

When an inquiry is worth the trouble

An inquiry earns its keep when two things are true at once: your health history is complicated enough that insurers may read it differently, and you care about the outcome enough to spend a week or two learning it.

It tends to be worth it when:

• You have a condition where the details matter a great deal, such as the date of a procedure, a test result, or how long a medication has been stable.
• You have already been declined or rated once and want to avoid a second adverse result.
• You are buying a larger amount, where a one-class difference in price adds up over 20 or 30 years.
• You are older and want to know whether a fully underwritten policy is realistic before settling for a simplified or guaranteed product (see full, simplified and guaranteed underwriting compared by health profile).

It is usually not worth it when your history is plain, when you only need a small policy, or when the delay would leave a family unprotected during a period when coverage matters now. An application takes weeks at best, and an inquiry adds time before it. If a child is due next month, or you are about to lose group coverage, the order of operations may need to change, and the right move is to talk to an agent about coverage first.

Step 1: write down the facts, with dates

The quality of the reply depends entirely on the quality of the summary. A vague summary gets a cautious answer, because an underwriter who does not know a date or a number assumes the less favorable possibility.

Before you speak to the agent, collect these items:

• Basics: age, sex, height, weight, state of residence, and any tobacco or nicotine use in the past several years, including cigars, vaping and nicotine pouches.
• Coverage wanted: the amount, the type (for example, 20-year term) and whether you are open to other lengths.
• Each diagnosis: what it is, when it was diagnosed, who treats it and how often you are seen.
• Each treatment or procedure: what was done and the date.
• Each medication: the name, the dose, the date you started and whether you ever changed or stopped it.
• Recent numbers: blood pressure readings, cholesterol, A1C, kidney or liver values, imaging results, whichever apply, with dates.
• Hospital stays and emergency visits in the past several years.
• Family history: parents and siblings who had heart disease, cancer, stroke or diabetes, and the age at diagnosis or death.
• Other factors: driving violations, hazardous hobbies, foreign travel, and other life or disability coverage you hold or have applied for.

If you do not have a number, say so. "Blood pressure is controlled; most recent reading from my doctor was in the normal range, I do not have the exact figure" is honest and useful. A made-up figure is neither. The guide to the life insurance application questions shows what a real application will ask for, and everything on that list should be in your summary if it applies.

Step 2: let the agent draft the summary, then read it

The agent usually writes the summary in the compact style underwriters expect. Ask to see the draft before it goes out. You are checking for two problems.

The first is omission. Agents sometimes shorten a history to fit one paragraph, and the omitted detail may be the one that matters. If you had a stent placed, the underwriter wants to know when and what the heart function was afterward, not just "heart procedure."

The second is optimism. A summary that rounds every number in your favor will get a favorable reply that dissolves when the real records arrive. The inquiry is only useful if it is a fair picture. If the draft says "stable on one medication" and you have changed doses twice in the last year, fix it.

Here is the shape of a typical summary, entirely invented:

Male, age 49, 5'10", 205 lb, nonsmoker. Seeking $750,000 20-year level term. Type 2 diabetes diagnosed 6 years ago, managed with one oral medication, most recent A1C in the 6s per patient. Blood pressure treated with one medication for 5 years, readings normal on treatment. Cholesterol treated with a statin. No complications, no hospital stays in 10 years. Father had a heart attack at 68. No tobacco. One speeding ticket, 3 years ago.

An underwriter can work with that. Compare it with "Male, 49, diabetic, wants $750,000" and the reply will be either a decline or a very conservative offer.

Step 3: choose which insurers get the question

Insurers differ in how they treat the same history, which is the reason to ask more than one. A company that is strict on build may be relaxed on controlled blood pressure, and the reverse can be true at the next. See why one company approves what another rates up: underwriting niches for how those niches arise.

A sensible approach is to ask three to six insurers, chosen by the agent for their appetite for your kind of case. Asking one tells you only one view. Asking twenty overloads the process, and some agents and insurers do not welcome blanket inquiries. Ask the agent to tell you which insurers were asked and why.

Two practical notes:

• An insurer may decline to give an informal view. Some limit inquiries to certain ages or amounts, or ask for a formal application. That tells you something about how they work, not about your health.
• The same summary should go to each. If the wording changes from one insurer to the next, you can no longer compare the replies.

Step 4: read the replies for what they say

Replies usually arrive within days. They commonly take one of these shapes:

For background on what classes mean, see life insurance rate classes: preferred plus to substandard. Do not treat the replies as ranked prices. An informal view tells you the class, not the premium, and premiums between companies differ for the same class. The agent can run quotes at the classes offered to compare real prices.

Pay attention to the conditions. "Standard if the A1C is under the stated level at the exam" means the exam matters a great deal. If the last A1C was close to that line, tell the agent, and consider asking your doctor whether a recent value exists that you do not yet have.

What the reply cannot tell you

Treat the informal reply as a forecast, not a result. These are the things it cannot see.

Your records. The underwriter has only your summary. A doctor's chart may show a diagnosis you did not mention, a note that contradicts your recollection, or a test result that is worse than you remembered. Underwriters often request an attending physician statement on a formal application, and what comes back can change the answer.

Your prescription history. A prescription report lists drugs dispensed, with dates. It can reveal a medication you did not list, or a refill gap that suggests you were not taking one regularly. See prescription history checks.

The MIB file. If you applied elsewhere in the past seven years and something of underwriting significance was found, a coded entry may exist. See The MIB report: what insurers know about your history. You can request your own copy before the agent sends anything, which is a good idea if you applied previously.

The exam. Blood pressure, weight, blood chemistry and nicotine results on the day may differ from the numbers in your summary.

Your honesty on the real application. An inquiry is only as good as the facts in it. If they differ materially from the application you sign, the early reply stops meaning anything, and a mismatch can raise questions (see the guide on lying on an application).

None of this means the inquiry is worthless. It means that a good reply makes a good outcome more likely, not certain.

A worked sequence

Here is a hypothetical case showing how the order of operations works. The numbers are invented.

Say Priya, 52, wants $500,000 of 20-year term to cover a mortgage and a daughter's last two years of college. She has treated high blood pressure and was diagnosed with prediabetes two years ago. Her weight is on the high side of the range. She applied once, three years ago, to an online insurer and was offered a rating she declined.

1. Week 1. Priya requests her own MIB file and prescription report. The MIB file shows a code from the earlier application for an elevated blood pressure reading. The prescription report lists her two current medications and one she stopped last year. She tells her agent about all three.
2. Week 1. The agent drafts the summary. Priya corrects two errors: a dose that was changed and a date that was off by a year. The agent sends it, anonymously, to five insurers.
3. Week 2. Three replies come back with the same pattern: standard class if the exam is clean, a table rating if her A1C is above a stated level. One insurer says it needs records. One declines to give an informal view without an application.
4. Week 2. The agent runs quotes at "standard" for the three who gave views. Priya compares prices and chooses one company as first choice and another as backup.
5. Week 3. Priya asks her doctor for a recent A1C and a blood pressure log, so she knows her own numbers before the exam.
6. Week 3. She applies formally to the first-choice insurer. The agent tells her the application will be recorded and that she should hold off on any other applications until this one is decided.

The result of the formal application might still differ from the informal view, but Priya has learned the likely range, has done her own record checks, and has one fully prepared application rather than three scattered ones. If the first application is rated, she has a backup whose informal view she already knows. For what happens when a formal result comes back lower than hoped, ask the agent whether to accept, negotiate or walk away.

Sequencing: where inquiries fit among everything else

Think of the steps as stages with a rule at each.

1. Check your own reports first. MIB and prescription history, if relevant (see How to request your own MIB and prescription reports step by step).
2. Build a written history. The worksheet in build a medical history worksheet before you apply for life insurance is designed for this.
3. Run informal inquiries. Several companies, same wording, results in writing.
4. Compare price at the classes offered.
5. Apply formally, to one company at a time, unless the agent advises otherwise. The myths post on myths about applying to several insurers at the same time covers why order matters.
6. Hold off on changes. Do not start or stop medications, or schedule a procedure, without discussing with your doctor first. If something does change while the application is pending, tell the agent right away.

Mistakes people make with inquiries

• Treating the reply as a quote. It is an opinion about class, not a price or a guarantee.
• Leaving out a detail they hope no one will find. The databases and records will find it, and the whole exercise is wasted.
• Sending different summaries to different insurers. The replies then cannot be compared.
• Giving identifying information. If an insurer or agent asks for your name, date of birth or Social Security number, the inquiry has probably become something closer to an application. Ask what is recorded before you provide it.
• Waiting too long. Informal views may be tied to the facts as of the date, and a health change after the reply can alter the answer.
• Stopping at one reply. One insurer's opinion is one data point.

Key takeaways

• An informal inquiry is a no-name, non-binding question to underwriters, usually sent by an agent or broker, that shows how a health history might be classed before any application is made.
• The reply is only as reliable as the summary; include dates, numbers and medications, and do not round in your favor.
• Informal views cannot see your records, prescription history, MIB file or exam results, so treat them as forecasts rather than offers.
• Ask several insurers with the same wording, compare the classes offered, then apply formally to one company at a time.
• Request your own MIB and prescription reports first so nothing in the formal file surprises you or your agent.