Many
people are nervous about the whole
process of term insurance underwriting.
It can be significant enough to where
they don't even apply to begin with.
We've touched on the process of life
insurance underwriting and what to
expect we've boiled down some key
highlights to help shed light on the
entire process. Let's take a look
at common questions that arise from
clients.
Smoking and Tobacco use. This
questions comes up frequently as people
have a sense that tobacco use will
impact rates. They're right.
Smoking or tobacco use will
automatically move you to a more
expensive price schedule regardless of
health status. The carriers can
have different requirements for how long
smoke free before tobacco use is not
considered so check with us if you have
quit.
Another immediate impact to your health
class and/or life insurance rating tier
is height and weight. Height and
weight is automatically considered in
terms of pricing. It jumps from
health class bracket to bracket about
every 10-12 pounds on average. You
cannot just lose weight and apply with
no impact as they will ask about weight
loss. It's common for people with
higher weight to state that they are
"very healthy". This may be the
case but height/weight is still
considered in absence of any other
health issues.
The
third main concern is medication.
This could be especially true for
cholesterol, high blood pressure,
anxiety or depression. A
combination of medications will drive
the pricing bracket higher. The
medications that focus on the key
ailments associated with cardio-vascular
health and other ailments that affect
mortality rates. It's not so much
the cost of the medication but the
underlying condition for which it is
prescribed. In the eyes of the
life insurance carrier, ongoing
medications for conditions such as high
blood pressure or cholesterol show a
general, systemic issue that may affect
mortality many years later. Having
your cholesterol number "controlled" by
medication doesn't negate the fact that
the medication is needed to begin with.
Of course, it's important to work with
your doctor and treat the issue which is
viewed better than just allowing the
condition to go untreated in the eyes of
the life insurance underwriters.
After
smoking, height/weight, and medication,
foreign travel to dangerous countries
can be a factor. Let us know if
you travel or have plans to travel to
foreign countries. Obviously,
Canada probably won't be an issue but
there are many countries that will raise
red flags.
Dangerous activities are then factored
into the pricing with such things as
skydiving, private piloting,
motorcycles, and rock climbing.
Some carriers are more strict than
others depending on the individual
activity so it's important to check with
us if you fall within one of these
categories. There are many
deciding factors with any of these give
situations. For example, the
number of flight hours you have can
impact your ability to qualify and the
term insurance quote you might receive.
These
are some of the key underwriting
highlights. Everyone has a
different health history and or status
with varied items so let us help.
There are definitely situations where
one type of term insurance plan might be
a better fit than others.
It's important to keep these highlights
in mind when running your term insurance
quote so that you can financially plan
correctly.
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