Our weight is an indication of how healthy we are and is one of the significant criteria that a life insurance company keeps in consideration while deciding the insurance premium that one has to pay. If one is overweight,the insurance company charges a loading,which is an extra charge over and above the basic premium. The reason why insurance companies apply loadings or charges extra premium due to being overweight is because of The increased risk of health complications such as diabetes,hypertension or high blood pressure that comes with being overweight. They classify or categorise people into underweight,normal,overweight and obese. Medical research over the years have shown that obesity is a precursor to a plethora of diseases and this means that you are a higher insurance risk for life insurers to underwrite and that they will charge you more to make sure that they can cover their expenses when they have to pay a claim made by you. The higher premium in other words is to allow for the fact that you are more likely to die young than a rightly built person Even though your overall health is perfect but if you are overweight,you will have a difficult time getting affordable life insurance. Being overweight does not only affect your way of life and health,but it can also influence your policy approval rate and insurance premium. Let us evaluate that how does your weight affects your life insurance premium. Your physical built is directly proportional to your life insurance premium. In order to be considered for preferred life insurance rates it is important to keep your BMI i.e your height to weight ratio under check. Losing that extra 20 kilos can considerably lower your life insurance premium. If you are considering to buy life insurance policy for yourself then the advise would be to lose the extra weight. Life insurance companies use different health ratios to determine rates,therefore,shopping around may uncover both potential savings and better coverage. In order to save on your life insurance premium and get the best possible rate for term life insurance when purchasing it on your own,you need to fall under the preferred category. The preferred category is someone who is low risk,basically healthy,and a non-smoker. Most life insurers in India today have preferred rates. Once the premium is set,thats what you pay for the rest of your term. There are two options are available to you incase you are overweight: a) You opt for a plan and pay the extra loading charged by the insurance company after undergoing medicals b) You opt for a non-medical plan where the insurance company charges you a flat inflated rate without undergoing medical tests. Lets take an example of two variants (One medical and other non medcial) of the Aegon Religare iterm plan. The term insurance cost,post medicals for a male aged 40 years for a cover of R30 lakh for 25 years policy term is R7,379,on the other hand the non medical variant costs R8,008 which is almost 10 per cent costlier. On the other hand with a non medical plan you have coverage limitations hence you cannot opt for higher cover and will eventually be at a loss. Hence by losing that extra 20 kilos you not only reduce your growing waistline but also considerably reduce your life insurance cost and plan options. Author is CMO,Policy Bazaar
