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PolicyMe has launched an in-house AI copilot for complex life insurance underwriting, cutting underwriter turnaround times on those cases by 59%.
The system is designed for applications that require detailed medical review, rather than simpler cases that can be approved automatically.
Many insurers have focused AI on customer-facing tools such as chatbots, quote systems and digital assistants. More complex life insurance applications often require underwriters to review medical records, lab results and physician statements manually, a process that can take days or weeks.
Most PolicyMe applicants already receive underwriting decisions in seconds through automated systems. The new tool is intended for cases that need closer scrutiny, where delays can slow cover decisions and increase pressure on specialist underwriting teams.
The 59% reduction is based on internal data measuring the time from when an underwriter receives a complex case to when it is returned after review. PolicyMe said experienced medical underwriters remain in short supply across Canada, increasing the value of tools that reduce administrative work.
How it works
Developed by PolicyMe's in-house engineering team, the copilot operates within the company's cloud environment. It brings medical records, lab results and other supporting documents into a single workspace, flags missing information for follow-up, and produces structured summaries of long physician statements and related files.
It also suggests an underwriting decision, with supporting evidence, for review by a human underwriter. If an application is declined, postponed or rated, the system can draft plain-language explanations for customers based on the underwriter's notes.
Human oversight remains central to the process. Underwriters review and approve everything produced by the tool before any decision or communication is sent to an applicant.
PolicyMe said it built validation and traceability into the system's development, testing new versions against historical underwriting cases before deployment. It added that safeguards are in place to prevent customer data from being used to train the underlying AI models.
Complex cases
PolicyMe's focus on complex underwriting marks a different direction from the more visible uses of AI across insurance distribution. In many parts of the market, automation has been concentrated at the start of the customer journey, where digital tools can speed up quoting and handle straightforward applications.
Complex life insurance underwriting is a harder operational problem because evidence is often fragmented across multiple documents and requires judgment on medical risk. That has made it one of the slower and more labour-intensive parts of the process.
PolicyMe said the system was designed to reduce the administrative burden around those decisions, not remove human involvement. Its role is to organise records, summarise evidence and prepare customer communications, while the underwriter retains authority over the final outcome.
"Instant decisions for straightforward applications were the first problem we set out to solve," said Jeff McKay, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at PolicyMe.
"The most valuable application of AI in complex underwriting isn't replacing human judgment. It's removing the friction that surrounds it. We've designed this copilot to do the heavy lifting on document review, summarization, and communication, while keeping our underwriters firmly in control of every decision," McKay said.
Business growth
PolicyMe describes itself as a Canadian insurance distributor focused on life, critical illness, and health and dental products sold directly to consumers online. It says it has helped more than 50,000 Canadians secure more than $20 billion in coverage and also works with organisations that want to integrate digital insurance into their own customer experience.
Founded in 2018, the business has positioned itself around online distribution and automated underwriting. The latest launch extends that strategy beyond instant approvals for lower-complexity cases into the more difficult area of medically underwritten applications.
Underwriters review and approve everything the copilot produces before it reaches customers.