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Synopsis Life insurance, is a cooperative devise to spread the loss caused by an uncertain event in the interest of the insured. It is and will always remain an important part of financial services business. The recent economic liberalization policies of the government of India have resulted in bringing this, heretofore, low key industry into the limelight. This has also set the stage for advent of many multinational companies with new strategies in areas of life insurance marketing, distribution and product-mix. Due to sharp media focus, increased awareness and phenomenal growth rates life insurance has become an important discipline of study in the field of business management. Albeit quite a bit of literature is now available on life insurance per se, however then aspects of life insurance underwriting are still scantly written about. There is, therefore, a pressing need, for the benefit of current and future readers, to analyze and write about this aspect of life insurance operations and practice. This book is an attempt to fulfil this need in an easy and logical way to serve the requirement of students and professionals by providing them a useful insight in all practical aspects of underwriting the risks in life insurance.

Students who complete courses in Insurance find employment in insurance companies where they have to deal directly or indirectly with the underwriting process. With its focus on the applied aspects of underwriting function, the text is designed to prepare students to take up a career in Life Insurance industry.

It is also intended here to guide sales persons, risk mangers and other professionals in the industry and enable them to become aware of the concepts, philosophy and methods of underwriting. It gives an insight into the key aspects of the client's medical and financial profile that influence decision on premium and acceptance of the client's application for insurance.

Underwriting of a life insurance policy can be appropriately divided into three parts. These are non-medical, financial and medical underwriting. While there is significant interplay and fusion between these, the book addresses each one distinctly and in a sequential manner for easy comprehension of the readers. Part I deals with basic principles and concepts of underwriting. Part II discusses non-medical underwriting, financial underwriting and medical underwriting. Part III contains details of new developments in this field.

Life insurance policies do at times become contentious. The beneficiaries take recourse to legal actions for redressal of their grievances. Many a times, the core principles of insurance and underwriting policies are at the center of the legal arguments. This thus obligates the insurers as well as the insured to comprehend the correct tenets of law while entering into the contract for life insurance. Part IV covers this legal aspect. It contains the synopsis of three actual Supreme Court and Delhi High Court cases on cases on various causes of actions related to life insurance policies These revealing cases would help in grasping the do's and don'ts by the contracting parties where the life insurance underwriters happen to be essential performers.

Part V, the last part, includes seven sample underwriting solutions for the guidance of the life insurance underwriting professionals.

The annexure attached at the end of the book contains some useful sample guidelines and important information of use in life insurance underwriting.

It is hoped that readers will find the book professionally valuable and practically useful.