Life Insurance Premiums are set to Rise for Overweight Policy Holders - July 16, 2008 -

What will this mean for consumers?

It will mean that somebody who is a fraction above the stated healthy weight range will end up paying over half more than somebody within the healthy weight ranges. Some overweight consumers have been denied life insurance cover all together, whilst those that are offered cover, can pay up to 5 times more. This leaves many consumers completely wide open, left with no insurance to protect their families. The insurance companies currently use a measuring system based upon the Body Mass Index.

For example,

Underweight = less than 18.50

Normal = 18.50 to 24.99

Overweight = 25.00 to 29.99

Obese = 30.00 or above

Until recently, the acceptable BMI sat at around 33 to 35. Recent moves has seen this figure land at around 28 to 29. This now means that a male or female weighing over 13.5 stone, with a height of 5ft 7, would have a BMI of 29.41, therefore risking much higher life insurance premiums, sometimes by up to 50%. This could mean around an extra 120 per year for the average policy. Over the course of a 25 year policy this would mean amount to an extra 3000.

In past years, the higher rate of life assurance premiums would only affect those with a BMI of over 43, whereas now, the threshold is set at around 38.

Insurance industry experts are claiming that the recent spurt in UK obesity has led to insurers re-considering their current acceptable weight levels. Due to the fact that an overweight person is much more likely to die younger than a person within a healthy weight range, insurers are forced to impose much higher premiums onto those overweight, to compensate for the higher risk category.

It is known that over half of the British public are considered to have a BMI of over 25 (overweight or obese), and unfortunately, this percentage seems to be rising in an upwards trend, indicating that an increase in the average price of a life insurance premium could also rise

This article is written by Rebecca Brereton.

Rebecca writes online marketing material on behalf of AE Marketing Limited for a range of UK finance websites. For further life insurance information visit the Life Assurance Zone.

How to Compare Low Cost Life Insurance in Oregon
Many people find the very thought of life insurance a disquieting subject, but the truth is that we will all die one day and if we have loved ones it is only right that we leave them with some financial security when we are gone, or that we at least provide enough that none of our bills or other financial obligations will fall to our heirs.One of t...

Life Insurance Settlement Options
A life insurance settlement refers to the purchase of the insurance policy before the maturity date or the demise of the policyholder. There are some life insurance settlement companies or brokers whose sole business is the purchase of life insurance policies from the holders. These companies will pay a fixed portion of the policy amount to the hol...

Life Insurance - Taking A Gamble
Life insurance is much like taking a gamble. You never know if you will win or not. You might think that it is unnecessary to have this insurance as you cannot see anything going wrong in the future. You might argue that you are fit and well and intend bringing up your children yourself. There is always the unforeseen factor in life, something ...

Corporate Life Insurance Settlements
Life insurance settlement is the purchase of the existing insurance policies from the policyholders at a fixed percentage of the total cash value of the policy. This can be taken advantage of by a senior citizen who thinks that his or her policy is no longer needed, or by a terminally ill person who is in bad need of money for meeting expensive med...

Just What Is Whole Life Insurance?
There are various types of life insurance policies available -- how do you choose just one? Whole life insurance is a popular form of life insurance, but what is it exactly?The majority of life insurance policy holders choose whole life insurance policies. Why? Well, these policies tend to provide the best overall coverage. While term life insuranc...

How to Get "No Exam" Term Life Insurance
The best way to get a term life insurance policy with no medical exam is to search for, get a quote for, and virtually purchase the policy online. While the process seems simple thanks to the Internet, getting a no exam term life insurance policy isnt always what its cracked up to be.Life insurance companies require medical exams because they want ...

Whole Life Insurance Rates
Traditionally, there are two kinds of insurance policies - whole life plans and endowment plans. Whole life insurance plans have premiums that are paid for the lifetime of the insured and the proceeds of the plan are paid to the beneficiaries upon the insured death. In endowment life insurance plans, the premiums are paid for a certain period of t...