Essential Information About Applying for Overweight Life Insurance in [2024] + YouTube Video
Applying for overweight life insurance is a simple and straightforward process. We understand the
challenges overweight individuals face when it comes to securing the best rates.
That’s why we offer a simple and easy solution tailored specifically to your situation.
With access to over 40 of the most competitive life insurance carriers, we can shop the market to provide you with the best rates available.
Purchasing life insurance for overweight people doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. We will guide you through the process and ensure you get the best coverage and premiums that will easily fit your budget.
According to statistics, over two-thirds of Americans are considered overweight or even obese to some degree. Also, according to some of these statistics, there are over 1300 new applications submitted each day for life insurance for overweight applicants.
Table of Contents
- Securing Life Insurance When Overweight
- YouTube Video: Medical Conditions
- Life Insurance Rate Classifications Explained
- How Much Is Life Insurance for Obese Adults?
- What Affects Rates for Overweight People?
- Best Companies for Overweight People
- Types of Life Insurance to Consider
- Tips for Getting the Lowest Rates
- Our Final Thoughts
Applying for Life Insurance for Overweight Individuals
Life insurance for overweight applicants is available based on an applicant’s health history and other factors such as hazardous sports, hobbies and occupational risks. Life insurance carriers carefully consider a person’s Body Mass Index (BMI) as part of their underwriting process to assess health risks.
Here’s what you need to know:
How Being Overweight Affects Life Insurance:
BMI Consideration
Insurers often use an applicant’s BMI as a factor, often as the number one factor, but will also consider additional factors like exceptional muscle mass or other health influences.
Premium Rates
Overweight or obese individuals usually face higher premiums because they are at a greater risk for health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. These three conditions are very common with overweight people.
Table Ratings
Life insurance companies often use “table ratings,” as you will read more below, to determine premiums for people with higher BMIs, calculations which lead to higher rates.
Options Available:
Term, Universal & Whole Life Policies
These are the three most common policies, which usually involve a medical exam, including height and weight measurements. Purchasing a no-medical-exam policy will eliminate the need for a physical if the applicant’s BMI is not too severe.
No-Medical-Exam Policies
These are popular policies that eliminate the need for a medical exam, but premiums may be higher and face amounts may be more limited.
Guaranteed Issue Policies
All Guaranteed Issue Policies are available to anyone regardless of health or weight but typically have lower coverage amounts and higher premiums.
Tips for Finding Affordable Coverage:
Do Your Research
Different insurers look at overweight applicants differently. Some may have more lenient guidelines for BMI than others. Connect with an independent agent such as us who work with over 40 top rated companies.
Working with a Broker
A life insurance broker can help you compare policies from multiple companies to find the best rates to fit your budget. Brokers and independent agents are normally one in the same.
Improve Health Before Applying
Losing some weight before applying will give you a better chance of getting the most affordable premiums. Even a small amount of weight before applying can have a more positive impact on your premiums.
Providing Contextual Explanations
If your weight is due to muscle mass or other non-health-related factors, make sure you can explain this during the underwriting process. Anything you might add to your own defense for having a higher than normal BMI number can help.
Apply with a Weight-Friendly Insurer
Some life insurance companies are known for offering much more competitive rates to people with higher BMIs. Read more about which companies we recommend as your read more below.
Can I Get Life Insurance if I’m Overweight?
One of the most common questions in the life insurance field is, can overweight people get life insurance? The answer is yes you can, unless you are morbidly obese and your overall health has been severely affected.
Life insurance underwriters use a BMI calculator (body mass index) to determine your health classification. Your weight is not the only significant factor. What is more important is what other health conditions you have developed as a result of being overweight or conditions you are going to develop in the future stemming from your weight issues.
Life insurance underwriters have to consider the probability of health concerns in the future, not just the present. If you exceed the maximum BMI for life insurance, your application can be declined. Fortunately we don’t see this very often due to more relaxed underwriting requirements.
The underwriting process for life insurance for overweight individuals is virtually the same when compared to applicants with a medical condition. Watch this YouTube video below!
How to Apply for Life Insurance With a Medical Condition: YouTube Video
Life Insurance Health Classifications Explained
When you apply for a life insurance policy, the health classification that you are assigned will have a major impact on your premiums. Finding an insurer that will offer you the best health class will be imperative to securing the lowest premium possible.
Standard Rated Classes:
Preferred Best – 55% lower than typical standard rates
Preferred – 38% lower than standard rates
Standard Plus – 18% lower than standard rates
Standard – Base rate for the standard rate class
All Standard Rated Classes with Table Ratings:
Remember that table-based substandard rate classes are for people with more severe height and weight problems. The higher the number or letter, the more expensive the rate class. Here is a simple breakdown of those classes so you understand how they work.
Each Table Rating Letter Increases Premium by 25%
Life Insurance Rate Table Comparison
Rate Table Letter
Percentage Increase
A
Plus 25%
B
Plus 50%
C
Plus75%
D
Plus 100%
E
Plus 125%
F
Plus 150%
G
Plus 175%
H
Plus 200%
I
Plus 225%
J
Plus 250%
How Does Being Overweight Affect the Cost of Life Insurance?
The additional cost of life insurance for overweight applicants will greatly depend on the carrier applied with.
An obese person has a BMI Body Mass Index of 30 or more. This weight class is more severe than just being considered overweight. An obese applicant could easily fall into a health classification of rate table 4/D or higher, increasing their rates by over 100% of standard rates.
However, this is very common in the United States, where more people are becoming overweight from poor eating habits and lack of exercise every year.
Many life insurance companies have their own specific BMI insurance categories. Some companies are more friendly or more sensitive with their underwriting guidelines for overweight people.
What Factors Lead to Higher Rates for Overweight and Obese Individuals?
Smoking while also being overweight will drastically increase your rate of lung cancer by over 200%. Smoking factors can easily triple your chances of a heart attack or stroke.
It is all about the added health risks associated with overweight people. Life insurance companies spend a lot of time and money creating statistics. They want to know what puts an individual at risk for an overall health problem.
The National Health Institute also does something very similar. Here is a list of what they find to be direct risks connected to being overweight and obese. Term life insurance for overweight people will be less costly than any other plan design.
1. Kidney Disease
2. Forms of Cancer
3. Fatty liver
4. Gout
5. Diabetes
6. Impotence
7. High Blood Pressure
8. Risk of Stroke
9. Heart Disease
Best Life Insurance Companies for Overweight People
Prudential will be the most liberal company towards life insurance for overweight applicants. In many cases, they don’t go according to an actual BMI insurance chart.
You will typically be approved for a better health classification with Prudential than most other companies. They offer some of the best life insurance for the overweight.
Your health classification holds the most significant impact on your rates. Above all, Prudential is the largest life insurance company in the world, and they make more substantial changes than other companies. Therefore, they are excellent if the applicant has severe health conditions also.
10 Excellent Carriers for Overweight People
Banner Life
Protective Life
Liberty Financial
American General
Pacific Life
Prudential
MetLife
New York Life
Northwestern Mutual
Mass Mutual
Remember that there is no such thing as a one size fits all company for overweight and obese applicants. Every person that applies is underwritten on a case-by-case basis.
A 5-10 minute health assessment should be performed before choosing any life insurance company to apply with.
What Is the Best Life Insurance for Overweight People?
Term Life Insurance:
Affordable term life insurance is the most popular and cost-effective policy in the United States. It can usually be bought within term periods such as 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years.
Banner Life recently released their 35, and 40-year term plan designs. Therefore, term insurance will always be the best choice over the other types of life insurance.
Universal Life Insurance:
Universal life insurance is permanent insurance that will last the rest of your life if you keep paying your premiums. It costs over double the term price, but it gives you the lifelong security of knowing you will be covered forever.
In addition, the policy will pay its death benefit to your dependents and family members one day.
No Medical Exam Life Insurance:
No medical exam life insurance does not require a physical exam and can have a concise application. Depending on the company, these policies can have an approval time of 24-48 hours.
However, they cost more than conventional policies because of the life insurance company’s short and straightforward underwriting process. In other words, they do not see the entire history of your health.
Return of Premium Life Insurance:
Return of premium life insurance policies will pay back all your premiums if you outlive the term period of your policy. These are term life policies with return of premium riders.
They also cost more than conventional terms because of the opportunity to possibly receive all your premiums back.
Can I Get Denied Life Insurance for Being Overweight?
Most of the time when an applicant is denied life insurance coverage, the individual will be severely overweight and considered morbidly obese. Overweight people normally get approved and are offered a policy with higher rates to compensate the carrier for the higher than normal risk they are taking.
A considerable percentage of applicants applying for life insurance for overweight people have a number of other health conditions at the same time. Usually these applicants have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even one of the two forms of diabetes. Very rarely are these applicants overweight with no other secondary health conditions.
Overweight, Obese, and Morbidly Obese: What Are the Distinctions?
Applying for life insurance for overweight applicants is based on these three classifications.
Overweight:
Most people wonder what the difference is between these three classifications. This terminology all revolves around your Body Mass Index. Medical professionals define “overweight” as a condition in which a person’s body weight is approximately 10%-20% times higher than average.
Obese:
Doing this can be determined by a conventional height/weight chart or a body mass index rating (BMI) of 25 to 30. Obesity is generally defined as a condition in which a person’s body weight is 20% or more above average weight or a BMI of 30 or more.
Morbid Obesity:
Morbid obesity means a person is typically 50%-100% or more above their average weight. Being over 100 pounds over normal can severely interfere with internal organs’ health and normal functioning. Therefore, your classification affects your rate.
Purchasing life insurance for morbidly obese applicants can be challenging, to say the least, especially if they have additional health conditions.
Recent Statistics for Overweight People in America
How Common is Obesity?
Overweight with a BMI of 25-29.9
About 35-45% of adults fall into the overweight category.
Obesity with a BMI of ≥30
Approximately 44.6% of adults were classified as obese in 2022-2023, according to the CDC’s statistics.
Severe Obesity with a BMI of ≥40
Around 11.1% of adults were classified as having severe obesity during the same time period.
Childhood Obesity
Age Between 2-19:
Obesity among children and adolescents was about 21.8%, affecting an estimated 15.9 million individuals in (2021-2023).
Age Breakdown:
13.9% of children aged 2-5
21.9% of children aged 6-11
27.4% of adolescents aged 12-19
Demographic Variations
Obesity rates vary significantly by race/ethnicity: Non-Hispanic Black adults: 51.8%. Hispanic adults: 45.6%
Non-Hispanic White adults: 42.4%
Non-Hispanic Asian adults: 17.1%
Regional Area Variations:
Obesity tends to be higher in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the U.S. compared to the Northeast and West.
Health Impacts:
Obesity and being overweight are linked to a wide range of health problems which include:
1. Cardiovascular diseases.
2. Type 2 diabetes.
3. Certain types of cancer.
4. Joint and mobility issues.
Economic Impact in America:
The total medical costs of obesity in the U.S. was estimated to be around $191 billion dollars annually as of 2022. Keep in mind that these are steadily rising costs every year.
Effective Strategies for Securing the Best Rates
1. Change Your Diet and Lifestyle:
If you want the lowest rates on life insurance, it pays to lose some weight. The closer you get to the average
weight for your height on a BMI build chart, the better.
More importantly, you will look better and feel better if you lose weight. You will even live longer and prevent any weight-related diseases you can acquire from being overweight or obese.
Losing weight will require changing your diet and adding more physical exercise to your daily lifestyle. The best idea is to seek professional help to make your new weight loss system more effective all the way around.
A considerable percentage of Americans are overweight, so you are not alone. In addition, lowering your weight will improve your life insurance premiums.
2. Carefully Prepare for Your Physical Exam:
Anytime you purchase life insurance, you will be requested to take a physical exam by a para-med nurse who will come to your home or place of employment.
Naturally, you are not going to be able to lose any actual weight a week before she arrives, but there are a few things you can do to prevent yourself from getting yourself into trouble.
Don’t drink any beverages such as coffee or tea with caffeine before your exam. Many people do this and then get diagnosed with high blood pressure due to the short term spike in blood pressure.
3. Limit Alcoholic Beverages:
Alcohol can affect your blood test readings in many ways, from blood pressure, blood sugar levels, liver enzymes, and much more. Stay away from alcohol for a week before the test, if possible.
4. Avoid Fatty Greasy Foods:
Avoid pizza, cheeseburgers, french fries, and other high-cholesterol foods containing high fat and salt content.
5. Don’t Overeat:
If you already have a weight issue, you will not want to overeat before your exam. You can maintain your weight or even lose a pound or two. But the last thing you want is to gain more weight than you have right now. A pound or two might make the difference in the health rate classification on a BMI build chart.
6. See Your Doctor Regularly:
Anyone with a pre-existing medical condition must make office visits every six months in many cases. Frequent visits will help prevent your medical concerns from getting worse or other new conditions from going unnoticed.
This practice will also send a message to life insurance companies that you are concerned about your health which is very important.
When a life insurance company requests medical records and finds a person who seldom sees a doctor, it does not give a good impression. Therefore, this can be taken into consideration when underwriting your application.
Our Final Thoughts
Hopefully after reading this blog post, you have a much better understanding of overweight life insurance and how to apply. Millions of Americans are considered overweight to some degree, so relax, you’re in good hands.
We are here to help you at no cost or obligation seven days a week. We will guide you through the complete process from start to finish.
Don’t hesitate to grab your phone and give us a call. Don’t forget to get an instant life insurance quote on our website quoting system.
All the best,
Jack Venturi
Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 815-390-7545 for a quick response.
