Discover All the Essential Information About 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
- Can You Get Life Insurance if You’re Overweight?
- YouTube Video: Applying With 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
Can You Get Life Insurance if You’re 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 just the only significant factor. What can be 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 with 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 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 a risk to an individual’s overall health.
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
Obtaining Life Insurance with a High Body Mass Index
All life insurance companies have a body mass index chart. It is a simple chart that states the recommended weight for
your height. Your BMI is simply a measurement of your weight relative to your height.
BMI is just a terminology for life insurance for overweight people. An individual Body Mass Index (BMI) is simply a measure of a person’s body fat based on height and weight.
This measurement would apply to all adults, either men or women.
All life insurance companies have their version of a body mass index chart to place an applicant into a health classification.
When a medical underwriter looks at an application for life insurance for an overweight person, they automatically look at their life insurance BMI chart, compare the height to the weight, and go from there.
Therefore, the applicant’s final rates will depend significantly on their position on the BMI chart numbers.
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, such as other insurers do.
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 greatly 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 companies 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 for overweight 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 the return of premium riders.
They also cost more than conventional terms because of the opportunity of possibly receiving 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.
How Much Does Life Insurance Cost If I Am Obese?
We can give you a quote over the phone just as a starting point but keep in mind that the carriers dictate what your premiums will be.
The only accurate way to determine what your premiums will be is to submit an application to one of the most liberal life insurance companies that are considered “overweight friendly” such as the Prudential Life insurance company. There is no cost to apply and very little work for the applicant besides completing a telephone application.
Another option would be completing a simple risk assessment. Just knowing your height and weight will not be enough to properly estimate your premiums.
This is due to the fact that overweight people always have other health issues at the same time. A risk assessment performed by an agency such as ours will never be as accurate as submitting an application.
When you apply, medical records from your doctors office may be requested along with other areas of medical information such as the Medical Information Bureau often referred to as MIB. This type of information can only be collected by the carriers.
Benefits of Working With an Independent Insurance Agent
Working with an independent agent who will always have your best interests in mind will be your best choice. An
experienced agent such as us can help you compare rates from over 40 top rated life insurance companies.
Captive agents such as a State Farm representative are mainly homeowners and auto insurance specialists who can only sell you products from the one insurance company that they work for.
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 higher above average weight or BMI 30 or more.
Morbid Obesity:
Morbid obesity means a person typically is 50%-100% or over their average weight. Being over 100 pounds over normal can severely interfere with internal organs’ health or 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.
Statistics Regarding Overweight and Obesity in the USA
People living in the United States have been developing an escalating weight issue primarily due to the convenience of fast food services.
1. More than 2 in every three adults are overweight or obese.
2. Statistics indicate more than 1 in every three adults is obese.
3. More than 1 in every 20 adults is exceptionally obese.
4. About 1/3 of children and young adults ages 6 to 19 are overweight or obese.
5. More than 1 in every six children and young adults ages 6 to 19 are obese.
Insurers Pay Close Attention to These Underwriting Categories
Overall Health History:
Your health history is always the single most important factor in the underwriting process. Health conditions can have a major effect on your premiums and can even determine if your application will be approved.
Tobacco Use:
Smoking-related deaths in the United States add up to over 480,000 deaths each year. The statistics also show that one out of every five deaths is smoking related. Having a tobacco rate on your policy could mean over 200% higher rates.
Driving Record:
Your driving record is another factor that can impact your rates or even get your application declined. Drivers with dangerous track records such as multiple speeding violations at a high rate of speed or driving under the influence can take many lives on the highways.
Credit History:
Having higher rates on auto insurance policies due to bad credit scores is most common on auto insurance policies but it still affects life insurance as well.
Medical Records:
A person’s medical records will reveal most all the medical conditions they have in their history. Medical underwriters pay close attention to these information-rich documents.
Dangerous Sports:
If an applicant has a dangerous sport such as skydiving, drag racing or scuba diving, their rates could possibly be increased to cover the additional risk the insurance carrier is taking. This will all depend on the sport itself and its intensity.
Hazardous Occupations:
Applicants with hazardous occupations such as iron workers, commercial divers or high intensity power line repairmen can also be rated as high-risk applicants. Their rates could also be impacted because of their line of work.
Medications Used:
The medications an applicant uses will usually reveal what kind of medical condition is present. Sometimes medication that is used will present a positive effect on an application also.
Life insurance underwriters will pay close attention to all essential categories of your application, not just those limited to your weight situation.
Effective Strategies for Securing the Best Rates
1. Change Your Diet and Lifestyle:
If you want the lowest rates on life insurance, it will pay you 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 will 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.
Life Insurance for Overweight Females
The statistics clearly show that two in every three women in America are overweight!
Applying for life insurance for overweight females is the same as for men. More than 2 in every three women in the United States are overweight or obese.
These statistics are surprising but very accurate. Heart disease, Diabetes, and Cancer are the most common diseases created by obesity in women.
Most women are too embarrassed to talk about being overweight or obese, even with a doctor or nurse.
This situation leads to the condition getting worse as time goes by. Applying for life insurance for overweight women is the same as for men.
How to Locate the Most Affordable Life Insurance Premiums
We’ve covered you if you want to find the best life insurance quotes for overweight people. Always remember that a considerable percentage of Americans are overweight.
We work with overweight and obese people on a daily basis to help them find low life insurance rates. You can compare the best life insurance quotes on our website’s instant quoting system.
Our insurance agency works with more than 40 of the most competitive and highest-rated life insurance companies in the nation. Our objective is to ensure that our clients get the lowest rates possible.
There is never any cost to apply; life insurance companies pay all expenses. Therefore, our service to you is always free and without the obligation to buy anything.
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.
