When Does Life Insurance Become Effective? 
In most cases , when you work with your insurance professional to complete an application for Life Insurance and pay the required first installment , in addition to a receipt , you will also receive a `` Temporary Insuring agreement '' . This provides immediate coverage granted by the insuring company to protect you during the underwriting period . This provides that in the event that you die while the policy is being underwritten , then the insurance company agrees to pay all or at least a portion of the proceeds of the benefit for which you have applied to your beneficiary . Once the policy is issued , the in force policy then replaces the temporary agreement with the full coverage offerd by the policy sof which you applied . 