When it comes to buying life insurance, it pays to be good, lean and healthy. Bad habits such as poor eating choices, an inactive lifestyle, smoking, flouting traffic rules, or a history of criminal offences can seriously inflate your life insurance rates. In contrast, turning over a new leaf can save you a fortune on life insurance. You can do this by adopting certain lifestyle changes for better health, by demonstrating that your DUIs are a thing of the past, and by proving that you’ve kicked the habit of smoking for at least a year, .
The underwriting process in life insurance will classify you in a particular rate class. A rate class is the price you have to pay for life insurance coverage, commonly known as premiums. Life insurance companies scrutinize your application, and look closely into the outcome of your physical exam, as well as into other supporting documents such as criminal offences, medical history, driving history, etc. Then taking your age and sex into consideration it brackets you into a certain rate class. Different life insurance companies have different names for their rate classes. However, the commonly used terms are Preferred Plus (the best rate only awarded to someone in excellent health, with no bad habits), Preferred, Standard and Substandard (for someone who has serious health conditions). Life insurance rates are cheapest for the Preferred Plus rate class, and increase for each lower rate class. That’s why qualifying for a better rate class can save you a lot of money.
Tips for qualifying for a better rate class
If you think you are too entrenched in a bad habit, and there is no hope, do not despair. Even minor changes can improve your rate class and give you a go at cheaper premiums. The following tips will tell you more.
- Lose the pounds. Even if you don’t have health problems but are overweight, you won’t qualify for the best rate class because weight gain is associated with medical conditions such as higher cholesterol levels and heart ailments. You should know that life insurance companies use a weight table to determine the height to weight ratio. If you are even a few kilos overweight it may affect your chances of qualifying for the best rate class. If you are an overweight woman, apply to a life insurance agency that uses a unisex weight table so that you can take advantage of men’s higher weight averages to qualify for a better rate class. Talk to your doctor for help in reaching your ideal weight. Also, if you have lost weight since you purchased a life insurance policy, ask for a review so that you can qualify for a lower rate class.
- Health conditions. Sometimes, when a condition such as diabetes or blood pressure is within check, you do have a chance of qualifying for a better rate. Check with your doctor and include supporting documents to prove that you have kept it in check for long enough.
- Tips for smokers. Whether you have just one cigarette a day, or you are a chain smoker, you will qualify for a separate rate class and will be offered a ‘smoker’s ‘ policy. Tobacco usage is associated with serious health problems such as lung and heart disease, and that’s why if you have these health conditions in addition to being a smoker, you will have to pay sizeable premiums. The good news for tobacco users is that life insurance companies do reward you if you have quit smoking. Depending on the life insurance company you approach, if you can prove that you have been smoke-free from between 1 to 5 years, they will re-evaluate your policy application and offer you lower premiums.
- Are you in a dangerous profession or risky hobby such as scuba diving or bungee jumping? Then you are likely to qualify for a higher premium. However, if you can show that you are certified and have taken safety classes, you might be able to get a better rate.
- Practice responsible driving: As underwriters see it, if you are flouting road rules, you are also most likely to be involved/ be the cause of serious road accidents. If you had a traffic violation or a DUI conviction in the recent past, you won’t qualify for the best life insurance rates.
- Are you credit worthy? If you have filed for bankruptcy in the recent past, it could adversely affect your chances of qualifying for lower premiums.
Why you should buy from a multi carrier life insurance provider
As mentioned earlier in this article, different life insurance companies have different standards on which their underwriting process is based. If you buy life insurance from a local agent, or directly from a life-insurance carrier, you won’t really get a chance to know if the life insurance quotes offered to you are from the carriers who could be partial to your particular requirements. On the other hand multi-carrier agency websites deal with hundreds of life insurance companies, and their automated quote-matching service will be able to pick up policies from life insurance carriers that look more favorably on your application than others. Best of all, their quotes reflect the best rates (for your particular requirement) and can be quite accurate.
Many people lie on their life insurance applications. Remember, that if your lie is found out, you may never ever qualify for life insurance. The better way out is to change one’s bad habits, and then apply for life insurance. Lifestyle and health changes can really save you a fortune on your life insurance premiums.
Your family should not suffer because you have been careless with your health and lifestyle choices. Always focus on the real reason why you want life insurance. They will thank you for it.
About AccuQuote:
AccuQuote is a leader in providing term life quotes to people across the United States. In 1986 it began operating with a single goal: to make the process of buying term life insurance as easy as possible for its customers. Their experienced professionals consistently deliver the most affordable term life insurance rates by comparing thousands of life insurance policies from dozens of top-rated carriers.
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