There are roughly 100 million individuals in the United States who are obese with adults accounting for 39.6%, according to the latest 2018 information from the National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey.
Many Americans realize that life insurance for overweight people can be more expensive. In fact, being heavier is one of the most common reasons people are charged higher rates for life insurance coverage.
If you are obese, or even just overweight, your height and weight will be a factor used by life insurance underwriters to determine the price of your life insurance policy.
Buying Tips for Life Insurance for Overweight People
Hopefully, you now realize that you should not be penalized with higher rates on life insurance just because you are carrying a few extra pounds! Fortunately, life insurance companies use different height and weight categories, and these categories are not uniform across the industry.
You may be able to qualify for standard rates for life insurance being overweight, assuming you do not have any other major medical conditions.
A basic understanding of how your medical history can impact the rates you pay for life insurance. Furthermore, you may be able to avoid a “rating” which could end up costing you a lot more over duration of your life insurance policy! Life insurance companies consider a number of different factors when assessing for life insurance coverage, the main ones being age, weight, height, gender, medical condition, and smoking status. With this information, insurance companies can then provide an estimate to the average life expectancy on an individual.
Life Insurance For Overweight Male
Getting a life insurance policy if you are an overweight or obese man will be more difficult due to the many health issues that being overweight can cause. The premiums will also will be higher and you won’t get cheap rates, so, if you are thinking about losing some weight, do it before applying for life insurance coverage.
Life Insurance For Overweight Female
The above summary for men also applies for women, but, females will pay less than males for the same coverage. This is simply due to the fact that a woman’s life expectancy is greater than a man’s. I know, it’s not fair if you are male.
Sub-Standard Rates
What happens if you are obese and don’t fit into one of these categories? You can still get approved for life insurance, however, you will be paying higher rates – also called “Sub-Standard rates”. As I wrote about in the article on health and table ratings, life insurance companies use something called “table ratings”.
These are either numbered from one to eight, or from letter A to H and are reserved for those that don’t qualify for regular Standard rates but can still get approved for coverage. If your weight doesn’t qualify at Standard pricing or better, you may be able to get approved, but at a higher substandard rate.
Let’s go back to our example of the 5’9 male. One he reaches over 230lbs he can not qualify for Standard (also called regular) pricing anymore. Let’s say he is 259lbs – in this case, he would qualify for a Sub-standard Table 2 rating, paying about 25% higher rates than at Standard Pricing.
Our 5’9 male, could probably still get approved up to about 330lbs or so – assuming he is generally in good health – although, at 330lbs, he would be facing much higher rates for coverage.
High Risk Life Insurance
What if our 5’9 male was over 330lbs? In this case, it is unlikely that he could get approved for a regular life insurance policy. We would have to look at high-risk life insurance options or buy a policy that would cover him for accidental death only. With a high risk policy – or a graded benefit policy – there would be an initial waiting period before the coverage was in effect.
Even if you’re considered overweight and high-risk, there are plenty of life insurance companies that are going to offer you affordable life insurance coverage. Each company is going to look at your weight differently,
With a graded benefit policy, there is a two-year period that starts once you purchase the life insurance plan. If you were to pass away within the first two years after buying the plan, the insurance company isn’t going to give you the payout from the plan.
Life Insurance Needs for Obese
Aside from getting the best type of plan, the next thing to do is add up your insurance needs. Not having enough life insurance protection can leave your family with leftover expenses and no money to cover those bills.
Before you apply for insurance, you should calculate your life insurance needs.
There are several things that you should account for before applying. The first thing is your debt and expenses if your family would pay for.
The next thing that you should calculate is your paycheck. Your life insurance plan should be able to replace your salary if you were to pass away.
Cheap Life Insurance for Overweight Applicants
You can increase your chances of getting life insurance or getting affordable rates for your protection. The best way that you can do this by improving your health.
The first things that you should do are start a healthy diet and get regular exercise. This will give you more energy, and improve your mood, and it can keep some cash in your pocket. Better health means better rates.
If you’re a smoker, it’s time to quick. It doesn’t matter what the rest of your health looks like. There is no way around it. Smoking is expensive.
But if you haven’t kicked the habit yet, we can provide you with the cheapest life insurance for smokers that is available to you.
Our agents have years of experience working with high-risk applicants, which includes anyone that is considered overweight or has high cholesterol. Don’t waste weeks calling different companies, let us bring the best insurance policies to fit your needs directly to you.
If you have any questions about life insurance or about getting coverage if you are overweight, please contact one of our agents today and we would be happy to answer those questions and ensure that you’re getting the best rates for your insurance protection.
Not only do we have the experience to find you the best plan, but we have the connections as well. We’ve built partnerships with more than 30 companies, which means you get all of those quotes without having to call them separately.
Call today and let us help you get several quotes from some of the highest rated life insurance companies available or read some of our reviews such as our Globe Life reviews.
Hopefully, you have a better understanding of how to quote yourself for coverage based on your height and weight. You can use our quote tool on this page to compare quotes.
