People live all kinds of lifestyles, from relatively sedate to adventure-seeking. Much of the time, this is nobody’s business but your own, but it becomes a matter of importance when you’re considering life insurance. Various lifestyle factors are considered when life insurance providers are assessing whether to insure you and how much you should pay for coverage.
Insurers consider a range of high risk activities, which could affect your likelihood to experience a fatal accident or illness. When you’re looking for the right insurance provider and policy, it’s important to understand some activities that could increase life insurance costs.
What Counts as a High Risk or Hazardous Activity?
Many activities could be considered high risk or hazardous for life insurance. Extreme sports and other hobbies that have a higher risk of accidents or injuries are some examples of what they might count as hazardous. For example, you might enjoy activities such as rock climbing, bungee jumping, scuba diving, skydiving, or operating a small aircraft. All of these activities, and more, could be viewed as high risk by insurance providers.
However, one thing to keep in mind is that not all insurance providers will consider the same activities to be high risk. If one insurance provider gives you a higher quote because of one of your hobbies or activities, another might not. That’s why it’s important to use an insurance broker who can find you the best deal and look for an insurance provider that might not regard certain activities as dangerous.
Disclosing Activities to Insurance Providers
If you’re looking for a new life insurance policy, it’s important to disclose any potentially risky activities to the insurance provider. It might seem tempting to omit something from your insurance application if you think that it’s going to keep costs down. However, this non-disclosure of important information is a type of fraud.
According to the 1984 Insurance Contracts Act, you need to disclose any information that may be relevant to the final decision of the insurer. So when you’re in contact with an insurance broker or a life insurance provider, be sure to tell them about any hazardous activities that you engage in.
If you don’t disclose important information about high-risk activities, insurers can still find out and deny your application. For example, they can look at your medical records and note any injuries that high-risk activities could cause. Similarly, if your application is approved and then you die while undertaking a dangerous activity, the claim for your life insurance could be denied.
Make sure you’re open about any high-risk activities you engage in, and that you know what sort of activities the insurance provider wants to know about.
Will High-Risk Activities Prevent You From Getting Life Insurance?
As long as you’re honest about any extreme sports or other hazardous activities, participating in them shouldn’t prevent you from getting life insurance. Some insurance providers even offer special policies that are designed to cater to people who do extreme sports and similar activities.
Some people can struggle to find a life insurance policy that covers the activities that they engage in or may find that the premiums seem too expensive. However, a good insurance agent or broker can help you find the right policy and provider that offers the coverage that you’re looking for and premiums that suit your budget.
What Factors Affect High Risk Coverage?
When looking at high-risk activities you engage in, insurance providers may examine several different factors. Some things that they might consider include:
- The activity or activities that you engage in
- Your experience level in those activities
- The safety measures that are taken
- The equipment that you use
- Your age
- How often you engage in these activities
Assessing these factors helps insurance providers to decide whether to offer you life insurance, as well as how much to charge you. You should answer all the questions that you’re asked and try to provide as much information as possible.
As a general rule, the more dangerous the activity and the more you engage in it, the more likely it is to raise your premium rates or make it harder to find insurance. Being less experienced or less safe could also mean that you end up paying more for your life insurance.
Advice for Taking Out Life Insurance with High-Risk Activities
If you want to take out life insurance and you’re someone who takes part in one or more high-risk activities, there are some things that you can do to help you find the right provider and policy.
First, it’s important to make sure that you’re honest. Provide as much information that you can, and avoid hiding any activities just because you think they might raise your premiums. When you do hazardous activities, it’s even more important to have the proper insurance to cover you, and you need to be honest and accurate about that.
Second, get quotes from different providers so that you can compare the costs. You might wish to look at specialist high-risk coverage to make sure you can find a policy that covers you. A broker or agent can help you find the best option and save you time. When considering the costs of life insurance, you might sometimes need to make a tough decision. If your hobby is costing you enough that it’s hard for you to get affordable life insurance, it might be time to give it up.
John B. Wright Insurance can help you find the right life insurance policy if you carry out high-risk activities. As a family business, we work closely with all of our clients to find them the best insurance to suit their unique circumstances.
When you need personal insurance, schedule a consultation to discuss your needs. Whether you need life insurance, home insurance, auto insurance, or anything else, contact us today to speak to a member of our helpful team.