Agent, Rural Mutual Insurance Co., Union Grove, WI
It can. That really depends on the indexes that that the company you are looking to purchase through uses. Height and weight along with personal and family medical history are a portion of the factors that most life insurance companies use in the determination of your premiums and the amount of coverage that they are willing to offer an individual. Talk to a local agent to determine what coverage is best for your situation.
Agent Owner, Gilmore Insurance Services, Marysville, Washington State
Yes, it does. There are companies that will not accept business from people with a high Body Mass Index. Once a person gets above 35 in BMI the number of companies available to purchase from starts to drop. Above 40 BMI and most won't quote. Insurance is using statistics and the laws of probability to determine if a policy or a rate is offered. It is a very impersonal method applied to a very personal product.
If applying for No Exam life insurance, BMI is not taken into consideration for approval. And when one's weight is within the normal weight range, BMI will not affect ones' rating for medically underwritten life insurance, either. It is when someone is overweight that the BMI is looked at in medically underwritten life insurance, to determine whether to give a better or worse rating than one might get based on weight alone.
Co-Founder, Coastal Financial Partners Group, California
Body Mass Index (BMI) does impact the premium for life insurance. BMI or simply the height and weight of the proposed life insured is a key factor in preferred risk guidelines. Favorable height and weight combinations can mean preferred rates. Average combinations will mean standard rates as a starting point for underwriting. Unfavorable combinations may mean substandard rates at best.
Height and weight charts can vary significantly by life insurer. An independent life insurance professional can survey a wide variety of insurers to help you select the best ones to apply with for the best possible outcome.
BMI (Body Mass Index) numbers between 18 and 50 are the outer minimum and maximum parameters of what most life insurance companies will cover with a medically underwritten policy. If a person is extremely underweight or malnourished (BMI under 18.5) or morbidly obese (BMI over 40), there are simplified issue policies for nearly every BMI, depending on one's age and state of residence.
For those with normal BMI, life insurance rates will be in the Preferred range as long as everything else is Preferred. For those who are overweight, the BMI will be part of the determination in what rating to give, along with other health factors.
Although Body Mass Index (BMI) is not one of the primary underwriting factors, it is directly connected to the Height and Weight parameters which are always primary items that are asked on an application for health insurance. An applicant that has a higher than normal BMI would be assumed to be overweight; whereas an applicant with a lower than normal BMI would be assumed to be under nourished. Both of these situations would be deemed as a greater than normal risk to carrier; should this condition exist, the applicant may be better off with an non-underwritten (guaranteed issue) life insurance policy.
For a health insurance quote and/or application, you may follow the link: http://www.HDAinsurance.com/health.html
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Height and weight charts can vary significantly by life insurer. An independent life insurance professional can survey a wide variety of insurers to help you select the best ones to apply with for the best possible outcome.
For those with normal BMI, life insurance rates will be in the Preferred range as long as everything else is Preferred. For those who are overweight, the BMI will be part of the determination in what rating to give, along with other health factors.
For a health insurance quote and/or application, you may follow the link: http://www.HDAinsurance.com/health.html