What Is A Hybrid Term Life Insurance Policy? 
A hybrid life insurance policy blends both non-medical and fully underwritten coverage . The idea is you get a portion of the death benefit being applied for as full coverage without an exam -LRB- the rest being AD&D coverage -RRB- and the rest turns into full coverage after an exam is completed and you 're approved . The initial process can be completed in just a few days -LRB- typically 48 hours or so -RRB- - when the exam is completed , it can take a few weeks for the underwriting to be wrapped up . Once the initial non-medical coverage is in force , you can then decide to take an exam to turn the rest of the coverage into full coverage -LRB- you generally have a window of about 6 months to complete the exam - can vary by carrier -RRB- . Even if you come up with poor numbers and are declined for the rest of the coverage being turned into full coverage , you can still keep the initial format of the plan because it 's already in force . It 's probably easier to envision with an example . If you apply for $ 250,000 of coverage with a 20-year term period under a hybrid life policy and you 're approved for the non-medical side -LRB- again , typically takes only a couple of days -RRB- , only a portion of the coverage will be full coverage . So let 's say the coverage is actually $ 100,000 of full coverage and $ 150,000 is AD&D -LRB- actual ratios will vary by carrier -RRB- . This means that if you died without completing the exam and getting the rest of the coverage approved , only $ 100,000 would be paid out instead of the full $ 250,000 . The only way the full $ 250,000 would be paid is if you died under accidental means -LRB- e.g. a car accident -RRB- . It sounds like a great idea on paper , right ? You 're getting coverage quickly and you 've got something locked in in case you ca n't qualify for the full coverage transition . There 's a huge issue with this type of program !!!! The RATE PER $ 1,000 of full coverage that you 're paying under a hybrid life policy can -LRB- and likely will be -RRB- A LOT higher than you would be paying for coverage under a traditional life policy - meaning you can end up spending a ton of extra money on premiums unnecessarily that could easily be in your own pocket . The chances of a claim for AD&D coverage is slim to none . You 're most likely to die from illness than you are to die from injury . *** You want to be paying the lowest cost per $ 1,000 of full coverage - this is the key point you want to look at when you 're buying your coverage . *** Think about it this way . If you 've got a $ 250,000 non-medical policy and a $ 250,000 hybrid policy , and the premium for the hybrid policy is less , you 're actually paying a much higher rate because only a portion of the face amount is full coverage , where as the entire face amount under the regular non-med policy is 100 % full coverage . But you can just take the exam and turn it into full coverage right ? Problem solved ? - NO !!! If you 're willing to take an exam in the first place , you may as well have just done a traditional fully underwritten program to start with , because the premiums for those programs are substantially less than they are for hybrid policies and you have full coverage from day 1 . The long and short of it is this - if you do n't want to take an exam , buy a non-medical policy . If you 're willing to take an exam to lower your premiums or secure a higher amount of coverage , apply for a fully underwritten program because you 're going to get much better rates . The idea with hybrid policies is to try to get the best of both worlds , but the process just does n't make much sense with how much you 're spending for full coverage . I hope this provides some clarification for you . Please feel free to contact me for further assistance . Thanks very much . 