What actually happens after you tap submit

Step 1 — You answer tap-through questions (about 2 minutes)

Our forms ask one or two questions per screen and almost every answer is a box you tap. That is a deliberate design choice: typing is where people abandon forms, and dropdown menus on phones are worse. You type only at the end, when we need your name, email, phone and ZIP code.

The questions are not padding. A life insurance quote needs your age, sex, height, weight, tobacco use, medications, family history and hazardous hobbies because every one of those is an input the carrier's underwriting engine uses. An auto quote needs vehicle year and make, garaging ZIP, annual mileage and violation history for the same reason. Sites that quote you from three questions are showing you a preferred-best rate that perhaps 15% of applicants actually get.

Step 2 — We shop the carrier network (same business day)

Your profile goes to the insurers that are competitive for it, which is not the same list for everyone. Carriers have niches: one is generous about well-controlled type 2 diabetes, another about a private pilot's licence, another about a recent DUI, another about homes with a 17-year-old roof. Knowing which carrier wants which risk is most of what a broker is for.

For life insurance we also field-underwrite before we submit — we ask the carrier's underwriter informally whether your file would be rated, and at what class, before an application creates a record. That matters, because a declination follows you through the MIB database.

Step 3 — You get a written comparison (within 1 business day)

Not a phone call trying to close you. A document showing:

• The premium from each carrier we shopped, at the limits you asked for
• What each policy excludes, in plain language, with the page reference
• The carrier's A.M. Best financial strength rating and complaint index
• Which option we recommend and the reason, including what we would give up
• What would change the price, so you can decide whether a higher deductible or a shorter term is worth it

Step 4 — Application, underwriting and delivery (1 day to 6 weeks)

Timelines vary a lot by product. Renters and auto policies can bind the same day. Accelerated-underwriting life insurance is often approved in 24 to 72 hours. A fully underwritten $2 million policy with labs and an attending physician statement can take four to six weeks, and we will tell you which track you are on before you apply.

Then we check in once a year

Coverage decays. A term policy bought before two kids arrived is now too small. A home insured for its 2019 rebuild cost is underinsured after construction inflation. A Medicare Advantage plan changes its formulary every January. Once a year we look at your file and email you only if something needs attention. If nothing does, we do not email you.