The cost of a life insurance policy can shift down or up depending on various factors. Age, gender, life expectancy, nature of the profession, and family history are some of them. The premium of an insurance policy is usually measured using statistics of other policyholders who math a similar lifestyle to yours. Some people are placed in a ‘high-risk category because of their likelihood of dying early. Risky and bad lifestyle choices can result in higher premium rates.
Below are some lifestyle choices that can affect the rate offered for a life insurance policy.
Working in a Risky Profession
Working in a risky profession is one of the important factors that can increase the cost of your life insurance policy. This is because there are chances of an earlier death due to an accident or any unpleasant happening. According to industry experts, logger, commercial fisher, pilot and roofer are the professions that are most likely to pay higher life insurance premiums. They have a 10 times higher mortality rate than other professions.
Driving Record
Your driving record is another factor that can significantly impact your insurance policy. Experts say that an individual’s driving record enables insurance providers to precisely predict a driver’s chances of death. Use of driving record makes a lot easier for insurers to determine how likely an individual is likely to die in a road accident. Since road accidents are one of the common causes of death around the globe, an individual with good driving habits can enjoy a better and affordable insurance premium than a driver with bad driving habits or records. If you have been in several road accidents or traffic abuses in the past, you will be offered a higher life insurance premium rate.
Unhealthy Habits
When you request a lie insurance quote, the insurance agents usually ask you a series of questions, and health habits are on top of the list. They ask questions about your health to find out how seriously you take care of your health. It helps them calculate life expectancy and the risk of dying prematurely. Unhealthy lifestyle habits and choices like smoking and drinking increase the risks of serious health issues like cancer, heart stroke, and liver disease, etc. As a result, it increases your risk of early death. And ultimately, you will be paying higher premium rates than others who don’t smoke or drink.
Inactive Lifestyle
An inactive lifestyle can cause several medical issues and diseases and obesity are one of them. If you are overweight due to a sedentary lifestyle, chances are higher that you might be suffering from serious health concerns in near future. That is the reason; inactive lifestyle is one of the factors that affect your life insurance policy and you may need to pay higher premiums.
Your Hobbies
Just as some professions are considered most dangerous (minor, fisher, and pilot are some of them), some hobbies can put you in the high-risk category when it comes to buying life insurance. If you are involved in dangerous hobbies like skydiving, fishing, deep-sea diving, and skiing, they can be a cause of concern for your insurance providers and they may offer you expensive life insurance policies just because of your hobbies.
Final Words
Since the above-mentioned factors like your age, health status, profession, and driving record help insurance providers to calculate life insurance premium rates, you can make necessary and healthy lifestyle changes to receive an affordable policy rate. You can do things like careful driving, quit smoking, exercise regularly, and switch to less risky hobbies. As a result, you will fall in the low-risk category to get a more favourable insurance plan.
