When you’re shopping for life insurance coverage, there are dozens of different factors that the insurance company is going to look dozens of different factors to determine how much they are going to charge you for insurance coverage. The insurance company is going to look at everything from your age to your occupation. One of the biggest factors that they will look at is your overall health. Your health is going to play a major role in how much that you pay for coverage or your chances of getting approved for the plan. So whether you are young and need insurance or maybe need life insurance 65 and over; we can help.
Most Americans today are overweight. So if you find yourself with extra pounds and looking for life insurance, you are in a very similar situation with most people who purchase a life insurance policy. In this article I’ll provide some ideas of what type of health rating - and in turn pricing you can expect if you are overweight and looking for life insurance. I’ll discuss rates if you have had gastric bypass surgery, and what happens if you have recently lost a significant amount of weight. I’ll provide some specific examples of pricing as well. You can compare term life insurance rates right below this paragraph, or keep reading for more on overweight life insurance.
If you’re looking to get affordable life insurance and you’re overweight, don’t worry, there are several ways that you can secure better rates from the insurance company and keep more money in your pockets. Life insurance is one of the best investments that you’ll ever make for your loved ones. If something tragic were to happen to you, your loved ones would be left with massive debts and final expenses.
A common question that people have is can I get approved for life insurance if I'm overweight or obese? The answer is that most people who are overweight or even obese can get approved for life insurance. When we do see people who are overweight get declined, it is more likely as a result of other medical conditions and not just weight that is a factor.
To better understand pricing for a life insurance policy, you first need to understand life insurance health ratings. Life insurance companies price your policy based on the type of coverage you are getting (for example a 10 year term is cheaper than 20 year term), the amount of coverage, and your health. For Non Smokers there are 4 Health Ratings that are at a Standard Rating or better, and then about 10 ratings below standard. The main 4 ratings are Preferred Plus, Preferred,Standard Plus and Standard. Smokers have 2 main ratings - Preferred Tobacco and Standard Tobacco.
There are also ratings that are lower than Standard - called Substandard ratings. People with pre-existing health conditions, like diabetics, or those that are overweight by more than 50 pounds would get substandard ratings. Substandard ratings range from Table Letter A-J (or some life insurance companies use Table 1-10). The higher the number, the higher the price of the policy.
To better illustrate the examples of health ratings, let’s take an example of a 40 year old male and provide an example of pricing.
We’ll take a 40 year old Male applying for a 20 year $250,000 policy. We’ll look at various weights to show the difference in pricing.
Let’s say our 40 year old male is 5’10. Let’s take various weights and see how the pricing changes:
5’10 180 Pounds - Can qualify for Preferred Plus - 20 year $250,000 policy = $18 monthly
5’10 205 Pounds - Can qualify for Preferred - 20 year $250,000 = $23 monthly
5’10 220 Pounds Can qualify for Standard Plus - 20 year $250,000 = $30 monthly
5’10 230 Pounds Can qualify for Standard - 20 year $250,000 = $37 monthly
5’10 250 Pounds - Substandard Table 2 - 20 year $250,000 = $41 monthly
5’10 300 Pounds - Substandard Table 4 - 20 year $250,000 = $53 monthly
5’10 350 Pounds - Substandard Table 8 - 20 year $250,000 = $77 monthly
The example above illustrates the difference in pricing based on the health rating you would get from the life insurance company. In the above example if the 40 year old would want a policy without a medical exam and was 5’10, he would need to be below 265 pounds to qualify.
The quote above is a generic example of the rates that you could receive from the insurance company. Every applicant is different, which means that you could receive drastically different rates depending on which company that you get the quote from. Each insurance company is going to have different requires for weight and height.
If you are considering losing weight to save on your life insurance rates, here are some tips. Losing 5 or 10 pounds to potentially get a better rating could make sense and might save you money. However life insurance companies will ask you if you have lost more than 10 or 20 pounds over the last year - if you have they may give you the average of your previous weight and existing weight - because many people gain weight back after weight loss. If they order copies of your doctor’s records they will also see your previous weight and will take that into consideration as well.
Some of the best ways to lose weight are by starting a healthy diet and going to the gym on a consistent basis. Both of these can help you shed those extra pounds, but it will also help you lower your cholesterol, lower your blood pressure, and reduce your risk of being diagnosed with other severe health complications later in life. All of these are going to translate to better results from the medical exam, which means cheaper monthly rates for your coverage.
If you have had gastric bypass surgery, most life insurance companies will require that you wait 6 months post surgery before you can get approved for coverage. In cases of Gastric Bypass you are likely to see a Standard rating, or possibly a substandard table rating.
Regardless of your weight or overall health, there are several ways that you can secure better insurance premiums and save money on your life insurance coverage. Making a few simple change could help you save hundreds of dollars on your life insurance plan.
The first thing that you should do is cut out any tobacco that you currently use. If you’re listed as a smoker on your life insurance plan, you can expect to pay much higher premiums for your life insurance coverage. In fact, smokers are going to pay twice as much for a life insurance plan versus what a non-smoker is going to pay for the same size policy. If you want to save money on your life insurance, you’ll need to kick those bad habits once and for all.
If you’re a smoker and you’re overweight, then you’ll be paying more for coverage, and depending on the rest of your health, there is a chance that you could get declined. It’s important that you get the best rates, and if you are a tobacco user, it’s going to play a major role in how much you pay for your insurance coverage.
Another way to lower your insurance premiums is to work with an independent insurance broker. Unlike a traditional insurance agent, an independent agent works with dozens of highly rated companies across the nation. Every insurance company is different, which means that you’ll get drastically different rates depending on which company that you get the quotes from. If you want to get the lowest insurance premiums, you’ll need to get dozens of quotes before picking which one is going to work for you.
There are thousands and thousands of different companies on the market, which means that you could spend weeks and weeks trying to find the lowest rates. Don’t waste your time calling all of those companies yourself, let one of our independent agents bring all of the best rates to you. Our agents have years of experience working with overweight applicants and we know which companies are going to offer you the lowest premiums for your coverage.
Life insurance rates aren’t just based on the proportion of your height/weight. Factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, any medical conditions past and present are taken into account as well as your family history (for example cardiovascular disease in one of your parents).
There are dozens of different things that the insurance company is going to look at, and some of those you change and some of those you can’t. It’s important that you get the lowest insurance premiums available.
Life insurance is one of the best investments that you’ll ever make for your loved ones. Your life insurance plan will give your family the money that they need if you were to pass away. If something tragic were to happen to you, your family would be left with a massive amount of debt and other final expenses. Being left with a mountain of debt is going to make the whole situation a thousand times worse. Your life insurance coverage will make the process easier by giving them the money that they need.
At ChooseTerm.com our expertise is that we can help you figure out the type of health rating you can expect to get - or atleast provide a range of pricing you can expect from the life insurance company once a medical exam is done.