High Risk Life Insurance

Living your life can be risky even if you are concerned about your health, your diet, and your lifestyle.  If you have a hazardous occupation, hobby, high risk lifestyle behavior, a challenging health condition, or simply have lived a long time, you may be regarded high risk. If this describes you, then you want to learn and understand high risk life insurance.

Basically, everyone must have life insurance to financially protect family members and other loved ones. However, if you are considered a high risk applicant for life insurance protection, you’re likely to discover it can be difficult finding life insurance companies that will provide the insurance coverage you need at a rate you can afford. This is where high risk life insurance will become your solution.

Get in touch with an independent and experienced insurance agent and discover how you can purchase affordable life insurance, even when you are considered high risk. Independent life insurance agents work with numerous life insurance companies in order to help you find the insurance coverage that best meets your needs and budget.

High Risk is about Health, Lifestyle, and Occupation. Here are some examples:

• Lifestyle: Smoking – The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) indicates that over 45 million adult Americans over the age of 18 smoke tobacco. This behavior accounts for 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. every year, which is equivalent to about 443,000 people.
• Occupation: First Responders – According to the NFRO (National First Responders Organization), there are approximately 10 million First Responders in the United States. This includes police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other personnel whose occupation is about saving the lives of people who may be in dangerous situations.
• Health: Unfortunately, serious health conditions flourish among individuals in the United States. Conditions such as diabetes, Hepatitis C, COPD, HIV, Cancer, and many others are considered high risk by national life insurers.

What is High Risk Life Insurance?

High risk life insurance is insurance protection that is provided for individuals who are thought to be a high risk applicant because of health issues, dangerous hobbies, or high risk lifestyle. What determines a risk category? There are various groups that are regarded as high risk. They include:

• High risk occupations: Many types of occupations can put you into the higher risk classification. Men and women in high risk professions include pilots, high-rise construction workers, welders, underground miners, police officers, firefighters, and many other dangerous and hazardous
• High risk hobbies: You may work at a safe and secure job during the week, but you may still be regarded high risk if your weekends and holidays involve hobbies such as skydiving, car racing, piloting small aircraft, mountain climbing, or scuba diving.
• High risk habits: Some lifestyle habits that are typically considered high risk are smoking cigarettes or cigars, chewing tobacco, or consuming alcohol.
• High risk diseases: If you have been diagnosed with a challenging or life threatening condition such as cancer, epilepsy, diabetes, or Alzheimer’s, you will more than likely be considered high risk.

The good news is there are a wide variety of life insurance companies that specialize in high risk life insurance protection. This means that obtaining the life insurance you want and need is not impossible, despite your occupation, hobbies, habits, illnesses or age.

What do High Risk Life Insurance Underwriters Look For?

Each life insurance classification has its particular requirements and limitations set by the insurer. If you land into a high risk classification, there are various distinctive factors that an insurer will take into account depending on the specific risk involved. It’s important to understand that this can vary dramatically from company to company. The following are a few examples that should give you an understanding of what insurance underwriters look for before they will offer high risk insurance quotes for your consideration.

• High Risk Profession – When you work in a high-risk profession such as merchant seamen or a seagoing fisherman, the insurance underwriter will consider two basic factors before developing a rate classification:

1. They will rely on reports provided by the U.S. Department of Statistics that offer specific information regarding injuries or deaths in each profession.
2. They will also review experiences that the company has with insuring individuals these high risk professions.

• High Risk Hobbies – When dealing with high risk hobby applicants, the underwriter will typically order a supplemental questionnaire based on the hobby. For example, if you report that you participate in mountain climbing activities, you will likely be asked the following:

1. How many mountain climbing events do you undertake each year?
2. How high do you normally climb on each trip?
3. Do you climb alone or with a support group?
4. Have you suffered any climbing injuries in the past?
5. What qualifications do you have or have you taken safety courses?

• High Risk Habits – Certainly, there are habits that are considered good for a healthy life, and then there are habits that although legal, can be detrimental to a healthy life. Cigarette smoking is probably the most serious legal habit that insurers must contend with. If you are a smoker, your underwriter will want to know how long you’ve smoked and your average daily cigarette consumption. If you have quit smoking, the underwriter will want to know how long it’s been and if you’ve had setbacks since deciding to quit. You can also expect a blood and urine test to verify your responses.

• High Risk Health Issues – If you have been clinically diagnosed with a high risk disease or condition, you will additionally be asked a number of health questions that relate to the particular illness or condition you have revealed on your application. For instance, if you have disclosed that you had cancer, your insurance underwriter will typically ask the following:

1. When were you originally diagnosed with cancer?
2. If your cancer is in remission, how long?
3. What medications are you currently taking to manage your condition?
4. Do you have any other medical conditions that you were treated for over the last five years?
5. What was the date of your last treatment?
6. What was the result of any tests or medical follow-ups?

Setting Your Expectations