Demographics

Age has a dramatic affect on life insurance premiums. That’s not a personal judgment but rather simple mathematics. The insurer’s aim is to take more in premiums overall than it spends on administration and payout’s on policyholders claims. The older you are, the chances are the shorter the time you’ll be paying premiums before you die, and thus the higher these premiums need to be for the insurer to be confident they’ll wind up ahead on the deal. These calculations will also take into account the fact women outlive men on average.

Policy Term Type

Most type of life insurance plans have a fixed payout amount or lump sum. However, there is a type known as decreasing term, in which the payout steadily decreases over time and may even reach zero (at which point the policy closes and no further premiums are paid). The main reason to take out such a policy is to provide a payout to pay off a mortgage if the policyholder dies, so the payout will decrease in line with the outstanding mortgage. With such a policy, the monthly or annual premium payments will stay the same each month, but will usually be lower than with a policy with a fixed payout.

Terminal Illness Cover

Some life insurers offer terminal illness cover in their policies. This means the insurance will pay out if and when the policyholder is diagnosed with a terminal illness, rather than waiting until they die. The benefits of this are obvious: somebody with a terminal illness is unlikely to either be able to carry on working, or may prefer to give up work. While some policies include terminal illness cover as standard, others may make it available for a higher premium and apply certain restrictions such as that the life expectancy is 12 months or less.

Smoking

Smoking is usually one of the most significant factors in determining life insurance premiums beyond demographics, for the simple fact that its the activity which has the most clearly defined link with shortening lifespans. Virtually all insurers will ask if you have used tobacco products in the previous year and will increase premiums if the answer is yes. Some insurers may reduce premiums if you have never smoked, or gave up more than a certain number of years ago.

HIV

If you have been diagnosed with HIV, it is possible you may have to pay considerably higher premiums. However, with many insurers, it is also likely you will not be able to get cover at all. The ABI requires insurers to revise their company policies on insuring people with HIV every three years and to base these policies on the latest available statistics for how HIV affects health and life expectancy.

Under ABI guidelines, insurers cannot ask simply whether an applicant has had an HIV test. Instead they can ask only if the applicant has tested positive. They can also ask if the applicant has engaged in any activity wich increases their exposure to the risk of contracting HIV.

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Category: Finances
Keywords: life insurance, life cover, life assurance