3 Best No Medical Exam Life Insurance Policies for December 2024

Skip the tests and get coverage quickly with companies that offer life insurance with no medical exam.

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Updated · 2 min read
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Written by Georgia Rose
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Edited by Erica Corbin
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In the market for life insurance but want to skip the medical exam for one reason or another?

Here are the best no-exam life insurance policies from highly rated U.S. companies. Some of these policies guarantee acceptance regardless of your health, while others require you to answer a few health questions to qualify for coverage.

The best no exam life insurance policies at a glance

NerdWallet's life insurance content, including ratings and recommendations, is overseen by a team of writers and editors who specialize in life insurance. We follow strict editorial guidelines to ensure the content on our site is accurate and fair so you can make financial decisions with confidence and choose the products that work best for you.

Best no medical exam life insurance for December 2024

Our top picks for this category earned a NerdWallet rating of at least 4.5 out of 5 stars.

5.0

NerdWallet rating 

No exam or medical questions (whole life). No exam but you may have to answer medical questions (term life).

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

No exam but you may have to answer medical questions.

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

No exam but you may have to answer medical questions.

NerdWallet rates insurers at the company level, not the policy level. This means our star rating reflects the company as a whole, and not its no-exam insurance life policy specifically.

Best no-exam life insurance policies in 2024


Best for senior members
insurance-product-card-logo

AARP

5.0

NerdWallet rating 
Bottom line: Great option for senior AARP members. Older applicants can get coverage without answering any medical questions or taking an exam.

on Nerdwallet

Financial strength rating

Exceptional

Online purchase

No

NAIC complaints

Fewer than expected

Policies offered

Term, permanent & no-exam
Best for senior members
insurance-product-card-logo

on Nerdwallet

AARP

5.0

NerdWallet rating 
Bottom line: Great option for senior AARP members. Older applicants can get coverage without answering any medical questions or taking an exam.

Financial strength rating

Exceptional

Online purchase

No

NAIC complaints

Fewer than expected

Policies offered

Term, permanent & no-exam
Pros

No medical exams required.

Fewer than the expected number of complaints to state regulators.

Anyone age 50 and up can get access through AARP membership.

Cons

Term life insurance premiums rise every five years.

Policy type: Term.

Policy name: Level Benefit Term Life Insurance.

Issue age: 50 to 74 for AARP members (45 to 74 for partners and spouses).

Coverage: $10,000 to $150,000 (up to $100,000 for New York residents).

Application: No exam, but you may have to answer questions about your health.


Policy type: Whole.

Policy name: Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance.

Issue age: 50 to 85 (80 in some states) for AARP members and 45 to 85 (80 in some states) for partners and spouses (50 to 75 for members and spouses in New York).

Coverage: Up to $30,000 ($25,000 in some states).

Application: No health questions or exam.

» Read the full review: AARP life insurance review


Best for customization
insurance-product-card-logo

Country Financial

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Bottom line: A range of life insurance riders can be added to both term and whole life policies so you can customize your coverage.

on Nerdwallet

Financial strength rating

Exceptional

Online purchase

No

NAIC complaints

Fewer than expected

Policies offered

Term & permanent
Best for customization
insurance-product-card-logo

on Nerdwallet

Country Financial

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Bottom line: A range of life insurance riders can be added to both term and whole life policies so you can customize your coverage.

Financial strength rating

Exceptional

Online purchase

No

NAIC complaints

Fewer than expected

Policies offered

Term & permanent
Pros

Offers multiple insurance products.

Cons

Not available in all states.

Policy type: Simplified term or whole life insurance.

Issue age: 50 or younger.

Coverage: Up to $100,000.

Application: No exam, but you may have to answer questions about your health.


Best for accessibility
insurance-product-card-logo

Nationwide

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Bottom line: The issue age range for this policy is 80 and younger — a relatively broad age range for this type of coverage.

on Nerdwallet

Financial strength rating

Exceptional

Online purchase

No

NAIC complaints

Fewer than expected

Policies offered

Term & permanent
Best for accessibility
insurance-product-card-logo

on Nerdwallet

Nationwide

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Bottom line: The issue age range for this policy is 80 and younger — a relatively broad age range for this type of coverage.

Financial strength rating

Exceptional

Online purchase

No

NAIC complaints

Fewer than expected

Policies offered

Term & permanent
Pros

Lots of policy options and riders to choose from.

Low volume of complaints for a company of its size.

Strong digital presence, with plenty of online learning resources and a highly-rated mobile app.

Cons

Not all policies can be paid for online.

Policy type: Whole.

Policy name: Nationwide Simplified Whole Life.

Issue age: 80 or younger (75 and younger in Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania).

Coverage: $10,000 to $50,000 ($25,000 to $50,000 in Washington).

Application: No exam, but you may have to answer questions about your health.

» Read the full review: Nationwide life insurance review



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How we ranked the top life insurers

NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on consumer experience, complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and weighted averages of financial strength ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. Within the consumer experience category, we consider ease of communication and website transparency, which looks at the depth of policy details available online. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the scores to a curved 5-point scale.

These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

In our life insurance reviews, our editorial team considers the customer and the insurer. These are some of the factors we take into account:

Policies offered. There are many types of life insurance on the market, and they fall into three key categories:

  • Term life insurance offers temporary coverage and a guaranteed payout if the policyholder dies during the term.

  • Permanent life insurance typically lasts a lifetime and builds cash value that can be borrowed against in the future.

  • No-exam life insurance issues coverage without the need for a medical exam.

Financial strength. We use AM Best ratings to confirm an insurer’s long-term financial stability and ability to pay claims. For life insurance, NerdWallet typically recommends considering insurers with ratings of A- or higher. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Exceptional: A+, A++.

  • Strong: A-, A.

  • Moderate: B, B+.

Complaints. These ratings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The best life insurance companies have fewer than the expected number of complaints.

Buy online. This indicates whether an insurer allows you to apply for and buy a policy completely online.

What is no-exam life insurance?

With traditional life insurance policies, applicants typically have to fill out a questionnaire about their health and lifestyle and take a medical exam. It's similar to an annual physical. A medical professional measures your height, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol and usually takes a blood, urine and saliva sample.

No-medical exam policies remove the exam from the application process. Depending on the type of policy you apply for, you might still need to answer questions about your health and lifestyle — but some policies skip that part, too.

These policies tend to appeal to those with serious health conditions or healthy people who want to speed up the life insurance application process.

Alternatives to no medical exam life insurance

In general, policies that don’t require an exam can be more pricey than ones that do. So if you’re young and healthy, you may want to consider a policy with full medical underwriting. If you’re looking for a quick application process, you may want to consider instant life insurance, which uses big data and complex algorithms to calculate risk and reserves the right to ask for an exam.

More about buying life insurance as a senior

More about top-rated life insurance companies

Looking for a different type of life insurance policy? Check out NerdWallet’s top picks across these categories:

More about buying life insurance with a health condition

Life insurance ratings methodology

NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on consumer experience, complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and weighted averages of financial strength ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. Within the consumer experience category, we consider ease of communication and website transparency, which looks at the depth of policy details available online. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the scores to a curved 5-point scale.

These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

Insurer complaints methodology

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2021-2023. To assess how insurers compare with one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.

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