Risk Life Insurance

Do Not Become a Candidate for High Risk Life Insurance

Most people are aware that some people are higher risks than others in the eyes of life insurance companies. Consequently, these people with high risk life insurance are subjected to higher premiums for the same coverage than with other people who are considered low risk. A lot of people know this and have accepted this stipulation because it is regarded as equitable for all. However, many do not know just how easy it is to be categorized as a high risk.

Just because you’re healthy or physically fit does not automatically make you a low risk. In fact, there are some cases where professional athletes are denied of life insurance policies. This is because insurers look at a lot of factors in determining an applicant’s risk factor. Here are the three main factors insurers base their decision on.

Physical condition

Among the three factors, this is the most obvious one. This is the easy round in the evaluation process. This is where your height and weight ratio comes into play. Ideally, insurers would want their applicants to be just of the right weight for their height, meaning they should neither be overweight nor underweight. Both imply unhealthy states, making them candidates for high risk life insurance.

Lifestyle

For instance, you’re fit and active, in your prime, never smoked a cigarette, never sipped alcohol, took your daily vitamins, and have an excellent medical record, but you love doing extreme sports such as mountain climbing and bungee jumping, guess what? You are strongly qualified as a high risk. In fact, the office guy next to you who smells of a mix between cigarette smoke and beer is more qualified to get life insurance than you. Even though you’re practically a saint, you will still be forced to pay very high premiums by many insurers because your lifestyle engages in dangerous activities that may lead to certain accidents that insurance companies are very much afraid of.

Mental Condition

A person who takes uncommon medications such as anti-depressants is also considered an applicant for a high risk life insurance. Insurers would not care if he has the body of an athlete and a lifestyle of a priest, as long as he takes anti-depressants, he would never be treated as a low risk. This is because people with mental conditions are more likely to fall into a depression than others, and people who get depressed are more likely to commit suicide, thereby posing a much greater risk for the insurance company. GP