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As the insurance industry moves into the 21st century and technology advancements provide people with more access to information, the way life insurance applications are being reviewed and approved is also changing. Life insurance companies, with access to digital data from providers like LexisNexis, are now able to more effectively gather the information they need to make a more accurate decision on life insurance rates and minimize risk in order to help keep life insurance costs low.

Editor’s Note: Per the request of LexisNexis, we have removed the link showing an example of a LexisNexis inspection report.

What Is LexisNexis?

LexisNexis has been around for years, primarily in a law research function, and is a massive data repository and aggregator. They house millions of records across various niches of data, both public and private. As technology and the need for information have grown, LexisNexis has become one of the main players in data analytics and aggregation for industries around the world.

Who Is LexisNexis Risk Solutions?

The arm of LexisNexis that the insurance and financial services industries rely on for information is known as LexisNexis Risk Solutions. This branch of the company is the main source of data that is used to help underwrite a life insurance policy during the “consumer reporting” part of the process.

Who Uses LexisNexis Risk Solutions?

Every major insurance company that states they check a customer’s “consumer report” (which is almost all of them) is primarily using LexisNexis data. Collections, healthcare, government, insurance, finance, corporate HR, and law enforcement all use the aggregated data LexisNexis provides to help mitigate risk and to get a better understanding of the person’s overall digital life. They also provide a “Risk View” score, which is a credit score that ranges from 501 to 900.  While it is different than credit scoring models like FICO, many banks use the Risk View score to make credit approval decisions such as auto lenders or credit card companies.”

For the insurance industry, they are given what is called an “Electronic Inspection Report”, which is then used to help classify your potential risk.

http://www.scorgloballifeamericas.com/en-us/knowledgecenter/Pages/LexisNexisRiskClassifierPreview.pdf

What Is On A LexisNexis Report? What Does LexisNexis Background Check Include?

The electronic inspection report shows underwriters the following:

  • Criminal Offenses
  • Bankruptcies
  • Liens
  • Property Ownership
  • Professional Licenses
  • Weapons License
  • Mortgages

How Does LexisNexis Get Information?

LexisNexis pulls their data from databases all over the country and assembles the information in one central location, allowing underwriters the ability to learn more about the person’s overall financial standing outside of just a credit report. Federal, state, and county databases provide much of the information housed inside these reports.

Why Does My Credit Affect My Life Insurance?

Underwriters believe there is a correlation between someone’s credit history and an increased probability in that person being a higher risk, both for life insurance as well as other forms of insurance like auto insurance. Because of this, insurance companies are best able to review your information and make decisions based on their perceived level of risk. There are a few companies who opt to not use this information but more are switching to this type of digital underwriting to stay competitive.

Additional Resources:

http://blogs.lexisnexis.com/insurance-insights/2018/04/life-insurers-innovation-into-opportunity-through-predictive-modeling/

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/products/risk-classifier

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/-/media/files/insurance/brochure/electronic_inspection_report-pdf.pdf

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/insurance/quoting-and-underwriting

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/insurance/life-insurance-solutions

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/-/media/files/insurance/white-paper/commercial-protfolio-risk-management-pdf.pdf

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/about-us/alliance-partnerships/insurance/data-delivery

http://blogs.lexisnexis.com/insurance-insights/2017/02/big-data-analytics-life-insurance-underwriting/

http://blogs.lexisnexis.com/insurance-insights/2018/04/life-insurers-innovation-into-opportunity-through-predictive-modeling/

http://www.scorgloballifeamericas.com/en-us/knowledgecenter/Pages/LexisNexisRiskClassifierPreview.pdf

https://www.hannover-re.com/1049712/new-life-insurance-underwriting-tools-enable-insurers-to-meet-consumer-expectations-resource-2016.pdf

https://www.munichre.com/site/marclife-mobile/get/documents_E171307011/marclife/assset.marclife/Documents/Publications/LexisNexis-Risk-Classifer-An-Effective-Indicator-of-Mortality-Risk-Whitepaper.pdf

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/about-us/press-room/press-release/04-27-2016-underwriting-industry

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/about-us/press-room/press-release/20180215-munich-re

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170402005057/en/LexisNexis-Risk-Solutions-Human-API-Partner-Streamline

https://www.hannover-re.com/1049712/new-life-insurance-underwriting-tools-enable-insurers-to-meet-consumer-expectations-resource-2016.pdf

http://blogs.lexisnexis.com/insurance-insights/2017/05/lexisnexis-life-insurance-sbli/

http://blogs.lexisnexis.com/insurance-insights/2018/03/predictive-modeling-satisfies-need-for-speed/

http://blogs.lexisnexis.com/insurance-insights/2018/03/adopt-correlation-based-underwriting-approach/

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/lexisnexis-human-api-partnership/

https://risk.lexisnexis.com/insurance/data-analytics-and-modeling/advanced-analytics-for-underwriting

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Your premiums are directly related to how the life insurance underwriters classify you as a potential risk. Those in good health with good behavioral habits pose a lower risk to life insurance companies and are able to get a better rating, which lowers their overall premiums. Likewise, those who in less than good health or who have behaviors that are less than ideal are rated lower, causing a higher premium to be charged due to risk.

It’s well understood that the higher the risk you are to life insurance companies, the more you’ll pay for the privilege of coverage. Less well understood are the risk classifications used by most insurance companies to determine insurance premiums. While actuarial scientists get paid the big bucks to develop pricing models for these classifications, it’s fairly easy for the layperson to get a general idea of which group they fall into.

Here’s what you need to understand about how insurers determine your risk, and what you can do to ensure the best possible rate on life insurance.

See what companies you Qualify for

While company research is an important step to make an educated decision on which life insurance policy will be best for you, you may not qualify for your chosen company.

For this reason, we recommend that you take our Health Quiz. It asks the same questions life insurance companies ask during underwriting, and based on your answers, we will filter down results to show just those that you qualify for.

Eliminate the guesswork, see what companies you qualify for.
Take health quiz

 

Insurance companies typically require applicants to take medical exams in order to determine the risk factors involved in classification. Additionally, they’ll request your medical records to establish your risks and any associated with your family medical history.

The Six Most Common Standardized Classifications

Insurance companies typically classify applicants based on their health and other risk factors. Each insurer’s classification system is different, so expect the criteria to differ. That said, typically insurers offer these six classifications:

  • Preferred plus
  • Preferred
  • Standard plus
  • Standard
  • Preferred smoker
  • Standard smoker

Note that it’s not unusual for applicants to fall outside of these standard classifications—they may instead be eligible for what are called table ratings (see below).

1. Preferred Plus: Elite classification–also called preferred elite, preferred select, or super preferred.

This classification is highly selective—only approximately 5 percent of the overall population is considered qualified. As such, it’s reserved for those with a relatively spotless health history. That means normal BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol, no regular medication, no smoking, and a fairly spotless family medical history. Medical histories that might raise red flags for insurers might be parents or siblings who died of cancer or heart disease before 60.

Note also that clean driving records are considered. Applicants will be excluded if they’ve had their license suspended, had more than two accidents or moving violations in the past three years, or have been convicted of a DWI in the last five years.

2. Preferred: for those with a good—not perfect—bills of health.

A slight step down from preferred plus, this classification is often reserved for those in overall great health but have a handful of health conditions well treated by medication. They may also have slightly higher cholesterol, BMI, or
blood pressure.

Those who partake in a relatively dangerous job or activity can also be put in this classification. Activities and jobs with higher rates of accident-related deaths like roofing, logging, rock climbing, skydiving, and others, are
considered high-risk. See our guide for a deeper dive into high-risk activities and their impact on life insurance coverage.

3. Standard plus: above average health with acute health conditions.

Those who qualify for standard plus are in overall above-average health and have a little family history of disease, but suffer from minor health issues or maybe over height and weight guidelines.

4. Standard: average health—most popular classification.

The most commonly classified category. Standard qualified policyholders are of average health, take more than one medication, and have a family history including diseases like heart disease, high cholesterol, and cancer.

5. Preferred smoker: preferred health classification for infrequent smokers.

This categorization is generally reserved for those who might otherwise qualified for preferred classification, but are smokers—generally occasional smokers—and those who may have recently quit.

6. Standard smoker: frequent smokers in average health.

Reserved for regular smokers who are in average health.

What Are Table Ratings?

As you might have noticed, even the “lowest” life insurance classification still requires the insured to have average health, which leaves out a wide swath of applicants with chronic health issues. If you fall outside these parameters, however, you are still very likely qualified for life insurance—albeit at rates above those for “standard” classification.

The many who fall below these health requirements are often given what’s called a table rating, often ordered in numerical or alphabetical groups in descending order of health risk, like 1,2,3, or A, B, C. Life insurers typically charge these applicants the same rate as the standard classification with an additional 25 percent of the standard rate added for each step down the table rate ladder.

For instance, the table rates of an insurer may look like this:
– Standard rate + (an additional) 25 percent = Table rate A
– Standard rate + 50 percent = Table rate B
– Standard rate + 75 percent = Table rate C

How Health Conditions Affect Life Insurance Classification

Despite the rigorous-appearing qualifying factors for classification, the actual evaluation gives applicants more leeway than one might expect. In the following ten costliest health conditions for life insurance classifications—according to Stephen Bloom, former New York Life chief underwriter and MetLife VP Dr. Jacki Goldstein—it’s still possible to get a premium rating.

High Blood Pressure

Insurers are often especially flexible with applicants who make an effort to manage their high blood pressure. Many may still qualify for preferred classification if the condition is under control and medicated.

Type 2 Diabetes

Adult-onset diabetes often leads to serious conditions like coronary disease and renal failure, but the later in life the diagnosis and the higher the quality of management, the more favorably applicants can expect to be rated.

Sleep Apnea or Narcolepsy

Often insurers are wary of applicants with sleep apnea or narcolepsy—for fear of its association with fatal accidents and heart disease (in the case of sleep apnea). Like high blood pressure, well-managed cases can be rated favorably.

Heart Disease

Heart disease dramatically increases the risk of heart attacks, which are typically unpredictable and fatal. Family history plays a big part in classification—the better the outcomes of relatives with heart disease, the
more favorable the consideration.

Asthma

While asthma is rarely fatal in the vast majority of cases—in fact, well-managed sufferers often qualify for a premium rate—insurers consider poorly managed and/or severe asthma a serious risk factor.

Cancer

Again, the seriousness of the condition is the most significant factor considered by insurers—some still qualify for preferred classification. In addition, a policy may be delayed for six months to a year to establish the seriousness of the cancer—for those recently diagnosed.

Weight Conditions

Obese applicants and anorexia suffered are closely scrutinized by insurers. More favorable classifications can be made for those with lower BMIs and those whose anorexia is inactive.

Organ Transplants

Insurers typically see organ transplant patients as high risk, due to the often life-threatening conditions that make them necessary. Corneal and kidney transplants are usually underwritten more positively, but transplants of the
heart and liver are looked upon more seriously.

Autoimmune Disorders

Those with disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or multiple sclerosis can still get life insurance. Insurers want to know that the condition has been well controlled for more than a year.

Depression

Suicide is the main concern for those with depression, but the wide spectrum of symptoms and experiences for those with the disease means sufferers vary from preferred to uninsurable.

High Cholesterol

This fairly common condition is often treated much like high blood pressure—applicants may be preferred or outright denied depending upon the severity and the quality of management.

What Can I Do To Improve My Health Rating?

One of the most advantageous perks of life insurance classifications: insurers can’t move you down a classification even if you start smoking, develop cancer and gain 50 pounds. It isn’t necessarily easy to move up a class, so to speak, as many of the most heavily weighted factors, like medical history, height, and pre-existing medical conditions, are fairly out of your control. That is, in the short term.

However, there are several rating factors that are relatively variable, including:

  • Smoking habits
  • Cholesterol
  • Blood pressure
  • Driving record
  • High-risk activities
  • Alcohol and drug abuse

Time is also a useful variable here. Firstrust Financial Resources CEO Adam Sherman recommends policyholders check to see if they qualify for a lower rate class every two years (the conditions of which should be outlined in your policy term).

In the worst-case scenario, if you’re denied coverage then time can help as well. If insurers discover you’ve had a recent cardiac episode, for instance, you can apply again when your condition is thought to be stabilized. If all else fails—and you’re either dissatisfied with your quote or get denied outright—shopping around is highly recommended, as insurance industry competition can net you better rates and higher classifications.

True Blue Recommends

If you are uncertain how you will be classified in regards to your health rating, it is best to work with an independent agent who can shop multiple companies to get you the best coverage for the best price at the best rating. In the event you are required to be table rated, it is recommended that you improve (when possible) the circumstances surrounding your rating and work with an agent or underwriter to get a better health rating.

Read more

While exact details will vary from company to company, certain activities that increase your chances of death can cause you to pay more for life insurance or make you uninsurable. Skydiving, scuba diving, aviation, and logging all carry high amounts of risk that some life insurance companies may choose not to cover.

If you engage in hobbies, jobs or activities considered risky by insurance companies, you’d be right to assume a potentially enormous insurance premium. However, if you’re not an experienced life insurance shopper, you’re likely to overestimate the cost of insurance by a factor of three.

For instance, San Francisco resident Mitchell Fox was quoted a rate nine times more expensive due to his occasional mountaineering, according to an interview with U.S. News and World Report.

Understandably, the 30-year-old didn’t love the prospect of paying a $180 monthly premium:

”It frustrates me that the difference between paying nine times as much per month for insurance was the fact that I was honest on my application about a sport I only infrequently participate in—I’ve climbed three mountains in two years. Am I really nine times riskier a customer than less-active people, whose chances of heart disease are probably higher? Am I really nine times riskier than a bad driver? I don’t recall the question, ‘Are you a good driver?’ on the application.”

Why are risky behaviors make insurance more expensive, then?

The calculus on the part of insurance companies is simple: the likelihood of you dying prematurely increases with each risky activity in which you participate. The earlier you pass on, the fewer payments your insurance company can receive.

This counts for existing health risks like high blood pressure, diabetes, and a family history of heart disease as it does for skydiving, scuba diving, and—as Neil Armstrong discovered—spacewalking.

So, which occupations, hobbies, and activities make you a risky bet in the eyes of insurance companies, and what can you do you to find the most affordable coverage despite your high-risk status? Read on to find out.

life insurance

High-risk jobs

It’s important to note that each insurance company typically has their own methods for establishing the risk factor involved in various occupations, though it’s most likely they’ll consider the 10 most dangerous jobs according to the number of fatalities experienced by workers in that position.

For reference, the U.S.’ average fatality rate is 3.2 deaths for every 100,000 laborers.

This year’s list of the highest-risk jobs are as follows:

1. Logger

  • Risks: Wildlife, falling trees, high winds, chainsaws, terrain
  • Fatality rate: 91.3 for every 100,000 laborers

2. Commercial fisher

  • Risks: Sun exposure, severe weather, sleep deprivation-related accidents
  • Fatality rate: 75 for every 100,000 laborers

3. Aircraft pilot/flight engineer

  • Risks: Experimental aircraft failure, chemical exposure, accidents from sleep deprivation and hazardous flying behavior
  • Fatality rate: 50.6 for every 100,000 laborers

4. Roofer

  • Risks: Falling accidents, other construction-related injuries
  • Fatality rate: 38.7 for every 100,000 laborers

5. Farmer

  • Risks: Shares many risks with loggers, in addition to the leading cause of death among farmers: overturned tractors
  • Fatality rate: 21.8 for every 100,000 laborers

6. Miner

  • Risks: Mine collapse, many others
  • Fatality rate: 26.9 for every 100,000 laborers

7. Reuse and recyclable collector

  • Risks: Accidents involving heavy and dangerous equipment and jumping off moving vehicles, exposure to chemicals
  • Fatality rate: 33 for every 100,000 laborers

8. Truck driver (and other driving-based workers)

  • Risks: Traffic and sleep deprivation-related accidents
  • Fatality rate: 22 for every 100,000 laborers

9. Electric power line installer/repairer

  • Risks: Electrocution and falling accidents
  • Fatality rate: 21.5 for every 100,000 laborers

10. Construction worker

  • Risks: Electrocution, collapsing scaffolds
  • Fatality rate: 17.7 for every 100,000 laborers

You may have noticed that this list doesn’t contain some jobs often thought of as highly dangerous, like firefighting and policing. Many workers in such fields aren’t considered high-risk, though certain positions, like S.W.A.T. officers or smoke-jumpers, are.

High-risk hobbies

life insurance scuba divingYou can work your office job inside of a panic room in the deepest floor of a fallout shelter, but if you engage in any especially-adventurous extracurricular activities, expect to pay higher premiums.

Which hobbies might incur higher premiums?

Joel Winston, attorney and founder of AnnualMedicalReport.com, gave the following estimates for the extra cost—in premiums each year—associated with these seven high-risk hobbies:

  • Skydiving/BASE jumping: $2,500 (or may be denied insurance altogether)
  • Scuba diving: $2,500
  • Hang gliding: $2,000
  • Rock climbing: $1,500
  • Motorcycle riding: $1,000
  • Recreational boating/fishing: $750
  • Hunting: $500

Again, each insurer likely calculates risk a little differently. It’s safe to assume that any particularly unusual or unusually dangerous hobby will cost you extra.

Will my insurer find out if I omitted my risky activity?

Penalties for lying or omitting relevant information for your insurance plans—called “material misrepresentation”—life insurance truthcan be severe: total plan cancellation, a reduction your death benefit by the difference between your past and newly-adjusted premium, or application rejection should they discover the discrepancy upfront. Also if insurers discover misrepresentation after granting you a plan, they may stop coverage or raise your premium. The consequences are most severe if misrepresentation is discovered after death: they might not pay out altogether.

Which begs the question: ‘Will insurers find out if I “mistakenly” forget to tell them about my risky habits?’

It’s impossible to say for certain, but they often do.

Insurers often check social media records and those of your friends pertaining to you, and look to see if you’ve been treated medically for any risk-related injuries, among many other research methods. Typically, the greater the value of your plan, the more active they’ll be in ensuring you’ve been upfront.

How Insurance Companies Calculate Risk

life insurance rateInsurance companies don’t calculate the risk of the activity simply because you report that you do it, they take into account many factors in how you engage in this activity, like its frequency.

The risk calculation goes even further by asking if you scuba dive professionally—for pay—and, if so, may prompt you with additional questions. Insurance companies may respond to such risk factors with “flat extra” rates, often in the form of an additional $2.50 to $5 for every $1,000 worth of insurance—added to your monthly premiums.

How To Navigate The Life Insurance Market When You Engage In High-Risk Activities

The upside of insurance companies’ typically independent risk-factor assessments means that even those with risky jobs and/or hobbies may find a plan with a price that works—so long as they don’t have serious health issues or other major risk factors.

How to find such a plan? We recommend independent insurance agencies.

Work with independent high-risk life insurance agencies

Shopping around for good life insurance plans to complement your risky activity is of course recommended, but there’s an entire profession of centered around matching clients to appropriate and affordable coverage: independent insurance agencies.

Look for agencies with the following characteristics:

  • Small. They give personalized attention to your high-risk needs, writing around 20 applications monthly.
  • Specialized. They have relationships with dozens of risk life insurance companies and can find the right one for your high-risk activities.
  • Efficient. They make a practice of first sending pre-qualified letters to numerous insurance companies, instead of making you take a medical exam for companies that may deny you coverage.

Additionally, you’ll likely be given a number of different options for the format of your life insurance. Here’s how to consider the likely choices.

A note on group life insurance: affordable, but limited

Employers in high-risk fields often offer group life insurance at affordable rates. While it may be tempting to opt for such a plan, the low rates are typically complemented by low payouts (generally between one and three times your salary). They’re also often non-transferable, meaning that quitting, getting laid off or fired could leave you uninsured.

Group insurance is most appropriate for those who have been denied coverage in the past due to one or many high-risk factors.

The life insurance market can confuse and confound even the most healthy and risk-free among us. The surest guiding light towards making the right decision, though, is the same for paragliding miners as it is for stamp-collecting data entry specialists: knowing your priorities for you and your family.

life insurance quotes

You’re interested in buying a life insurance policy, but you’re wondering how you’re going to be “assessed” during the application process. Well, the application is really just the beginning. The life insurance company takes your application and hands it over to an underwriter, who then evaluates your risks in a variety of different ways. What are those ways? Let’s take a look.

What is Underwriting?

First of all, let’s take a look at underwriting. It can be a bewildering term to many life insurance applicants.

Underwriting is a term that is used by insurance companies to describe the insurance company’s process for reviewing, modifying and then approving or declining life insurance applications. It’s a necessary part of applying for life insurance. Underwriting ensures that individuals are properly classified in the appropriate risk class and it also protects the insurance company from fraud and those applicants that misrepresent themselves.

Think of it as a risk management. The process consists of evaluating information from a variety of resources to determine how an individual will be classified. One of three things is going to happen when you apply for life insurance. Your application will be approved, you will be asked to agree to some modifications, or it will be declined.

If you’re approved, great. Now, if you are asked to make some modifications to your application, that’s good, too. It could be to change the total amount of coverage, the premium rate class, or to change some of the benefits due to a medical condition or a risky hobby, like skydiving. If you’re declined, it’s because your medical condition, based on your health history and all of the information gathered by the underwriter, falls outside the range of insurability that was established on your application. It could also mean that the amount of coverage you requested is greater than your financial need.

If you work with True Blue Life Insurance, you won’t be turned down because we will make sure you don’t submit an application that will be declined. That’s the relationship we have with you as a valued customer. Just call 1-866-816-2100 and a licensed agent will be pleased to speak with you about your insurance needs—and answer any questions you may have, accurately and honestly.

You see, underwriting life insurance is all about risk management — the process of classifying, rating, and selecting risks. The underwriter’s job is to use all the information gathered from numerous sources to determine whether or not to accept a particular applicant. You are then rated, typically according to the following categories:

  • Preferred — low risk, not sick, don’t have a high-risk job or hobby, clean bill of health, lower premium.
  • Standard — average risk, some health issues in the past, but not a terminal illness or a high-risk job or hobby, average premium
  • Substandard — high-risk job or a chronic illness, higher premium
  • Uninsurable — extremely high risk, terminal illness

In an article entitled “The Basics of Underwriting Insurance,” FinancialWeb accurately summarized:

“The underwriter must employ sound judgment based on his or her years of experience to read beyond the basic facts and get a true picture of the applicant’s lifestyle. For instance, the underwriter will look for any factors (such as occupation, dangerous hobbies, etc.) that could make the applicant more likely to die before his or her natural life expectancy, or reasons to anticipate that the individual may become ill or involved in an accident that will create high medical expenses. Of course, the underwriter certainly cannot—and isn’t expected to—foresee all possible circumstances. The underwriter’s primary function is to protect the insurance company insofar as is possible against adverse selection (very poor risks) and those parties who may have fraudulent intent.”

As promised, here are some of the primary resources an underwriter uses to assess your level of risk.

Application

This one’s a no-brainer, right? Without the initial application, there won’t be any policy issued. The typical life insurance application is divided into sections, with each section designed to obtain specific types of information. The style of the application may differ from one insurance company to the next, but it’s usually asking for personal and medical information. Remember, when it comes to life insurance, honesty is always the best policy. It never pays to be deceitful on an application.

Medical Examination

Depending on your age and the amount of insurance you apply for, a medical exam might be necessary. Medical exams and tests, when required by the insurance company, are conducted by physicians or paramedics at the expense of the insurer. They will typically check your pulse and blood pressure and then collect urine and blood samples to check for the presence of drugs and/or nicotine plus your cholesterol, glucose, red and white blood cell counts, etc. The exact process, again, will depend on your age, past health history, family history and the amount of insurance you’re applying for.

Medical Information Bureau Report

MIB, or MIB Group, Inc., is a membership corporation owned by roughly 500 member insurance companies throughout the United States and Canada. Previously known as the Medical Information Bureau, the organization was created in 1902 to provide fraud protection services to insurance companies.

MIB maintains a confidential consumer database that is accessible only by its member companies. It exchanges personal data about individuals among its members and also issues consumer reports to them. In turn, MIB also provides full disclosure to consumers regarding their files.

An MIB insurance report can include your previous or existing medical conditions, prescription medication history, as well as other issues like hazardous hobbies, adverse driving records—anything that could have an impact on your ability to be insured.

These reports alert insurance providers to potential errors, omissions, and/or misrepresentations that may have been made during the application process.

If the reports are inconsistent with the information you provided, insurance companies are then required to conduct an investigation to obtain more information about your reported medical histories and/or conditions before making a decision to either accept or deny your insurance application.

Driving Record

Didn’t see this one coming? It’s true, your driving record has an impact when it comes to life insurance. In fact, a single traffic ticket could substantially raise your premium and a history of poor driving or traffic violations could mean you will be denied coverage altogether.

Depending on the circumstances of each ticket, one violation could raise a red flag. Underwriters are prompted to check driving records for one simple reason: the roadways are deadly. According to the Annual Global Road Crash Statistics, over 37,000 people die in road crashes each year in the United States. So even if your driving history isn’t requested on the life insurance application, the underwriter is looking at your record. Some insurers don’t include driving-related questions because they pull information directly from the Department of Motor Vehicles, so it’s best to be honest up front.

Other Reports

Additionally, the underwriter might order a report from an independent investigating firm or credit agency, which would provide financial and/or lifestyle information. What you do for a living matters. If you sit at a desk all day, you’re not posing as much of a risk as someone who cuts down large trees every day. What you do for fun also matters. Do you have any risky hobbies? If you like to jump out of airplanes with a parachute on your back every weekend, you are a higher-risk applicant than someone who doesn’t involve themselves in that kind of activity.

Your Life Insurance Policy Application

Your relationship with your life insurance agent is a key part of the application process. That’s where we come in. A licensed True Blue Life Insurance agent is going to talk with you and help you accurately answer the questions on the application—plus answer any questions you have about the process before anything gets to the insurance company’s underwriter. Just pick up the phone and call 1-866-816-2100.

As an independent insurance agency, True Blue Life Insurance deals with all of the top insurance companies on your behalf, so we will work to get the best price for you and address any concerns you may have.

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