Ethos

Ethos is a digital life insurance company that lets people apply for coverage online in minutes without a medical exam. Instead of the traditional process of paramedical visits and weeks of underwriting, applicants answer a set of health, lifestyle, and financial questions, and Ethos uses third-party data sources such as prescription history, motor vehicle records, and identity databases to verify answers and make an instant or near-instant decision, with many applicants getting same-day coverage. It offers term life as its main product, along with whole life and other permanent options, with coverage amounts up to a few million dollars, and it works with established insurers who issue and back the policies while Ethos handles the technology, application experience, and distribution. Ethos also sells through financial advisors and agents and has expanded into related products. The company targets the large share of families who are underinsured because buying life insurance has historically been slow and unpleasant. Ethos is free to get a quote and apply; customers pay a monthly or annual insurance premium based on age, health, coverage amount, and term length, and Ethos earns commissions from the carriers whose policies it sells.