Life insurers are moving toward 'jet' underwriting. (Technology).

As marketing pressure pushes life insurance companies to provide better and faster service, insurers increasingly are turning to electronic methods to speed the application process.

This search for efficiency has led to increased use of "jet underwriting" the process of reviewing and approving applications in minimum time. Anecdotal reports across the industry show that, on average, anywhere from 50% to 70% of initial applications within certain face-amounts can be "jet" approved.

To help speed up matters, today's underwriters are learning to work without some of the traditional tools of the trade: doctors' exams, electrocardiograms, treadmill tests chest x-rays or traditional inspection reports, said Hank George, founder and chairman of the International Underwriting Congress, a global underwriting committee.

Instead, companies are using phone interviews to obtain both medical and personal information, George said. This means a higher percentage of cases is approved immediately, he said.

Some companies already have moved into electronic processing.

"Our company underwrites risks from $50,000 to $250,000, from ages 18 to 60 at standard rates, using a totally electronic system," said Tom McWilliams, chief underwriting officer at American Life Insurance Company of New York.