Insurance Questions to Ask Clients
This is a fact-find for insurance agents and advisors, whether the meeting is a full household review or a first sit-down with a life insurance prospect. The 55 questions run in the order of that meeting. They open on why the person called and what they hold now, move to the life insurance questions to ask clients about income, dependents and debts, then take in home and car, the health and habits an application will ask about anyway, and budget and claims history, and they close on beneficiaries, a will and the next review. What you must ask, record and disclose depends on where you are licensed and on the line of business, so check each step against your regulator's and your carrier's rules.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Opening
What made you get in touch?
Why ask it
The trigger matters more than the product they think they want. A new mortgage, a baby, a friend's denied claim and a renewal price rise each lead somewhere different, and clients rarely volunteer it unless asked at the start.
What do you have in place now, and who is it with?
Why ask it
Ask for carrier names and policy numbers, not categories. 'We have life insurance' can mean a term policy, a small benefit at work or coverage attached to a loan, and only the paperwork says which.
Is any of your coverage through your job, and do you know what happens to it if you leave?
Why ask it
Workplace life and disability benefits run on the employer's plan, and whether they can be continued or converted afterward differs by plan and by place. Ask to see the benefits booklet. Most people are describing what they remember from their first week.
What has changed at home or at work since those policies were set up?
Why ask it
A marriage, a child, a divorce, a larger mortgage or a new business each make an old amount or an old beneficiary wrong. List the changes first and the gaps tend to name themselves, which is easier on the client than being told they are underinsured.
What do you already understand about life insurance, and what has never quite made sense?
Why ask it
The answer sets where your explanation starts. A prospect who nods along to term, permanent and cash value without following them is more likely to drop the policy later, so find the confusion now, while it costs nothing to clear up.
When did you last read through any of your policies?
Why ask it
A policy nobody has opened since the day it was bought was sized for the house, salary and family of that year. The answer also tells you whether this is someone who reads documents or files them unopened.
Have you dealt with an insurance agent before, and how did it go?
Why ask it
A prospect who was once talked into a policy they later dropped is listening for the same pressure from you. Ask what they wish had been done differently, then do that where they can see it.
Who else should be in on this decision?
Why ask it
A partner who only hears the premium afterward is likely to say no to it. If someone shares the budget, or would be the one making the claim, book the second meeting with them present instead of sending a quote home.
Family and income
Who depends on your income, and for how long would they need it?
Why ask it
The answer turns a list of dependents into a number of years you can price. People name children and stop, forgetting a spouse who left work, an aging parent, or the sibling they quietly help every month.
Roughly what do you earn in a year, and how steady is it?
Why ask it
Income is what the rest of this section replaces, and carriers generally expect the amount applied for to make sense against it, each by its own rules. For commission, overtime or self-employment, ask for the last few years and not the best one.
If you died next month, what would your family have to pay for first?
Why ask it
Start the life insurance figure with the costs that arrive soonest: a funeral, final bills, and a few months of ordinary spending while everything else is sorted out. Most clients can answer this, where 'how much coverage do you want' gets a shrug or a round number.
What do you owe, and which debts would you want cleared if you were gone?
Why ask it
Go through the mortgage, car loans, cards, student loans and anything co-signed. Whether a debt falls to a survivor depends on the kind of debt and the local law, so write down the balance and who signed, and leave the legal answer to someone qualified to give it.
How many years are left on the mortgage, and when will your youngest be supporting themselves?
Why ask it
Two dates that between them suggest how long the coverage has to run. A client who has never put them side by side often sees for the first time that the need has an end.
Does your partner work, and could the household manage on that income alone?
Why ask it
The gap between the household's spending and the survivor's pay is the monthly figure to replace. Ask whether the partner would keep working the same hours, since a parent left alone with young children often cannot.
Who looks after the children and the house day to day, and what would it cost to pay for that?
Why ask it
A partner with no paycheck still does work that would have to be bought: child care, school runs, meals. Pricing it locally gives a figure for someone who is otherwise left off the application entirely.
Is there something specific you want the money to do, such as college costs or a parent's care?
Why ask it
A named purpose turns a vague sum into separate amounts with their own end dates. It also tells you which line of the recommendation to protect if the budget forces a cut.
If you could not work for six months, what would cover the bills?
Why ask it
Many clients answer savings, then revise the figure downward once they have said it out loud. That correction is the disability conversation, and it does not happen if you open with the product.
What savings, investments or pensions could your family draw on?
Why ask it
An honest needs figure subtracts what is already there. Check how each is held and who is named on it, because money the survivor cannot reach for months does not help with next month's bills.
When does your current term policy end, and can it be renewed or converted?
Why ask it
An existing term policy has an end date, and that date is the first deadline in the file. Whether it can be renewed or converted without new health questions, and until what age, is set out in the contract, so read it there and not from the client's memory.
Do you own a business, or a share of one, and what would happen to it without you?
Why ask it
Three things can surface here: a co-owner who would need to buy out the family, loans the owner has signed for personally, and staff whose jobs hang on one person. Ask whether a written agreement exists and who drafted it. If none does, that is work for their attorney before it is work for you.
Do you want this coverage to run until a certain date, or for the rest of your life?
Why ask it
This gets to term or permanent without a single product name. If the answer is 'for life', ask which need is lifelong: a dependent adult child or a fund for final expenses is a real answer, and 'it sounded safer' is not one yet.
Home and car
Do you own or rent, and does a lender or landlord require any particular coverage?
Why ask it
A mortgage or a lease often sets a minimum, and clients mistake that minimum for the right amount, when it was set to protect the lender or the landlord. Renters frequently assume the landlord's policy covers their own belongings, so ask what they think would be paid for after a fire.
What would it cost to rebuild the house today, rather than what you paid for it?
Why ask it
Purchase price, market value and rebuild cost are three different numbers, and only the last is what the dwelling limit has to match. If the client answers with what the house would sell for or what is left on the mortgage, check the limit against a current rebuild estimate.
What is in the house that a standard policy would not fully cover?
Why ask it
Rings, instruments, tools, bikes and collections often sit under sublimits nobody reads. Ask for rough values and whether receipts or photos exist, because a schedule of valuables is only as good as the proof behind it.
Do you run a business from home, even part time?
Why ask it
Many homeowners policies limit or exclude business property and business liability, so check the form in front of you. The online shop, the weekend photography and the occasional consulting invoice all count, and clients almost never think to mention them.
Do you rent out any part of the home, or host paying guests?
Why ask it
Short-term renting changes the risk, and whether a standard policy responds to it at all depends on the form. The answer tends to be yes with a qualifier attached, and the qualifier is the part that needs writing down.
Do you have a dog, a pool, a trampoline or a wood stove?
Why ask it
Each of the four can change the liability price or whether a carrier will write the home at all, and carriers differ on which. Named one by one they get answered honestly. Asked as a general question about hazards on the property, they do not.
Is the area prone to flood, wildfire, earthquake or high wind, and do you know whether you are covered for it?
Why ask it
Whether these are included, excluded or sold as separate policies depends on the form and the place. Clients tend to learn which after the event, so read the exclusion together and note their decision if they pass on the extra coverage.
Who else drives the cars, and is anyone under twenty-five?
Why ask it
A regular driver who is not on the policy is the kind of gap that turns up only when a claim is being questioned. Naming an age catches the adult child home from college, who rarely comes to mind when you ask who lives in the house.
What is each vehicle used for: commuting, deliveries, ride-share, towing?
Why ask it
Use changes the rating and sometimes the policy type. Paid driving of any kind is the one to listen for, since personal auto policies commonly treat it differently, and how yours does is something to confirm with the carrier before a claim tests it.
Any tickets, driving convictions or license suspensions in the last five years?
Why ask it
The answer feeds the auto quote directly, and life underwriters often look at the driving record as well. Insurers usually check the record themselves, so the only thing a vague answer changes is how accurate your first quote is.
If you were found at fault for a serious injury, what do you own or earn that could be at stake?
Why ask it
Liability limits stay abstract until the client pictures their own house and paycheck on the other side of them. How far a home, savings or wages can be reached in a lawsuit depends on local law, so use the answer to review the limits and whether an umbrella policy is worth quoting, not to give a legal opinion.
Health and habits
How is your health at the moment, and do you take anything regularly?
Why ask it
Keep this plain and unhurried. Clients under-report because they expect to be penalized for honesty, and most find a list of medications easier to give than a diagnosis.
Has anyone in your immediate family had heart disease or cancer before sixty?
Why ask it
Family history can move the underwriting class on life and critical illness coverage, and each application sets its own conditions and ages. Get the age at diagnosis as well as the condition, and check what insurers where you work are allowed to ask about family or genetic history.
Do you smoke or vape, and when did you last?
Why ask it
The date is the part that matters, since each carrier sets its own look-back period and its own view of vaping. Framing it as when rather than whether produces a more accurate answer and keeps a misstatement off the application.
How much do you drink in a typical week?
Why ask it
Life and disability applications commonly ask about alcohol, and some about past advice to cut down. A count of drinks per week is easier to answer truthfully than 'do you drink much', which invites a quick no.
Do you fly, dive, climb or ride motorcycles?
Why ask it
Aviation, diving, climbing and motorcycles are hobbies that life applications tend to ask about by name, often with a follow-up form. One left off the application can put a claim in dispute at exactly the moment the family needs it paid.
What are your height and weight, and has either changed much in the past year?
Why ask it
Carriers rate on build, and a guess that flatters by ten pounds can come back from the exam as a different price. A large recent change in either direction is usually followed up, so ask the reason while you are there.
Have you been in the hospital, had surgery or been sent for tests in the last five years?
Why ask it
The test with no result yet is what clients leave out. Many insurers will hold or postpone an application while something is still being investigated, so knowing now lets you time the submission instead of collecting a delay.
Has an insurer ever declined you, postponed you or charged you more than the standard rate?
Why ask it
Applications generally ask this outright. The reason behind an earlier decision tells you which carriers to approach and which to skip, and a condition that drew a higher rate years ago is sometimes viewed differently once it has been stable for a while.
What do you do for work, and does it involve heights, heavy machinery or time abroad?
Why ask it
A job title hides the hazard. 'Engineer' can mean a desk or a rig, and the duties are what decide the occupation class for disability coverage and any extra premium on life. Get the country names for regular travel too.
Are you comfortable with a medical exam, or with the insurer asking your doctor for records?
Why ask it
Some prospects will take a smaller policy to avoid needles or a records request, and it is better to learn that before you submit than when they stop returning the examiner's calls. What each carrier requires at each amount varies, so check before promising a route.
Budget and claims
How much could you comfortably pay yourself before insurance stepped in?
Why ask it
A better route into deductibles than asking about risk tolerance, because the answer is a number. If the figure they name is larger than what sits in their savings account, say so.
What are you paying in total now, and what figure would make you stop and think?
Why ask it
One answer gives you both the benchmark and the ceiling. A client who cannot total their current premiums may be paying twice for the same thing somewhere, and that is worth finding before you quote anything.
If money got tight, which of these policies would you cancel first?
Why ask it
The order is how the client ranks their coverage, which is often not how you would. A policy that is first on the cancel list should be sized so they can keep it through a bad year, since a lapsed policy protects nobody.
Have you ever let a policy lapse, and what was going on at the time?
Why ask it
A lapse is usually a cash-flow story: a job loss, a premium that jumped, a payment date that fell before payday. The answer tells you what premium and what billing day this household can actually sustain.
What claims have you made in the last five years?
Why ask it
Ask for the date, the cause and the amount paid for each. In many markets insurers can look up prior claims for themselves, and a client who forgot a small water claim is easier to help now than after a quote has been revised upward.
Have you ever had a claim denied, or a policy cancelled?
Why ask it
A prior cancellation affects eligibility with some carriers and tends to come out during underwriting anyway. Hearing it from the client first lets you take the risk to a carrier that will consider it, instead of learning about it from a decline.
Are you thinking of replacing a policy you already hold?
Why ask it
Replacing life coverage can restart things the old policy had already settled, such as its contestability period and a price based on a younger, healthier applicant. Many jurisdictions also require specific replacement disclosures, so follow yours, and cancel nothing existing until the new policy is confirmed in force.
Wrap-up
Who is named as beneficiary on each policy today, and is that still who you want?
Why ask it
Have them check the forms instead of answering from memory. A former spouse, a parent who has since died, or a child who is still a minor each need attention, and how a payout to a minor is handled depends on local law, so point them to an attorney for that part.
Do you have a will, and does it name a guardian for your children?
Why ask it
You are not drafting anything, only checking that the money has somewhere sensible to go. If there is no will, or no guardian in it, say that it is a job for an attorney where they live, and that how a will and a beneficiary form work together depends on local law.
Out of everything we have covered, what worries you most?
Why ask it
Their answer sorts the recommendation for you. Whatever they name is what they will actually pay for, and it is frequently not the largest exposure on your worksheet.
What would stop you from going ahead with this today?
Why ask it
Better to hear the objection now, while you can still answer it. Price, a partner who has not been consulted and distrust of the product are three different conversations, and 'I need to think about it' usually stands in for one of them.
If something happened tomorrow, who would call me, and would they know where the paperwork is?
Why ask it
The failure nobody plans for is a valid policy that nobody can find. Suggest they tell one person where the documents are and which company to call, and write that person's name in your file.
When should we look at this again, and what would make you call me sooner?
Why ask it
Agree a date and a short list of triggers: a new job, a move, a baby, a renovation, a new driver. Clients who know what counts as news are more likely to call before the gap opens than after.
Running a needs assessment
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Running the meeting
Ask for documents, not descriptions
Clients describe coverage they do not have. Getting the declarations pages in front of you turns a guess into a gap analysis, and it is the fastest way to find overlap they are already paying for.
Put the sensitive questions in the middle
Health, family history and money get better answers once someone has already answered ten easy things and has a sense of why you are asking at all.
Give the reason before the question
One sentence of context gets a fuller answer. Ask about medication without it and people round down; explain that underwriting will check and they tend not to.
With a life insurance prospect
Size the need before naming a product
Work through Family and income until there is a figure: the costs that arrive at once, the debts to clear and the years of income to replace, less what the family could already draw on. Show the arithmetic so the prospect can change one line and watch the total move. Term or permanent is a later conversation, and a short one once the need has a size and an end date.
Get the person who would claim into the room
The person who buys a life policy is rarely the one who collects on it. A spouse who sat in on the fact-find knows the policy exists, why the amount is what it is and whom to call, and is far less likely to push for cancelling it in a tight month.
Write down the answer you were given
Health and habits answers go on the application as the prospect gave them, not as a tidier version. Never suggest a wording that plays down a diagnosis or a cigarette. A misstatement that helps the price today is what an insurer can point to when a claim arrives.
Say what happens after the signature
Explain the exam or records request, how long underwriting tends to take with this carrier, and that the offer can come back at a different price from the quote. Be exact about when coverage starts, which depends on the carrier and the payment made with the application, and tell the prospect to keep any existing policy until the new one is confirmed in force.
Documenting the conversation
- Record what the client declined as well as what they bought, and confirm the declined items in writing.
- Note where each number came from: a valuation, a statement, or an estimate off the top of their head.
- Flag anything they said that conflicts with the application and resolve it before submission rather than after a loss.
- Keep your own record of what you recommended and why. If the advice is ever questioned, that file is what speaks for it.
Common pitfalls
Quoting before the fact-find is finished
A number on the table ends discovery. The client starts optimizing the premium instead of telling you about the business they run out of the garage.
Treating market value as rebuild cost
They are different figures and they move independently. If the client offers one, ask for the other before you set a dwelling limit.
Letting the client name the product
Someone asking for term life may actually need income protection. Take the request seriously, then ask what event they are picturing when they say it.
Skipping the review cycle
Underinsurance often begins as a policy that was right on the day it was written. Book the next review before you leave this meeting, while the reason for it is obvious.
One note on rules
What you may ask, what you must record and what you can rely on varies by jurisdiction and by line of business, and several of these questions carry specific disclosure requirements. Health and family history answers are personal data as well, with their own rules on consent and storage. Follow your regulator's rules and your firm's compliance guidance rather than any generic list.