How Smoking and Obesity Can Affect Your Life Insurance

by Jenny Longmuir

Insurance companies calculate the cost of a persons life insurance cover by assessing risks in their lifestyle and high-risk lifestyle choices such as smoking and being overweight can increase your premiums by a significant amount.

One study found that the average smoker paid 56% more than a non-smoker. The study was based on nine of the UK's top insurance companies and examined the premiums quoted for two men aged 30 asking for £100,000 cover over 25 years. The only difference between the application details was that one was a smoker and the other wasn't.

Whether this is fair or not is a matter of opinion. From the point of view of the insurer, the issue is simple; smoking increases the risk of someone developing certain types of cancer and serious illnesses. If there is a potential risk, it will be factored into your premium.

Giving up smoking can reduce a person's premium, although, to qualify as a non-smoker, most insurance companies insist that you must not have smoked or otherwise consumed any form of tobacco product during the previous 12 months. Indeed, some companies go further and extend the qualifying period to 5 years.

The life insurance industry has also recently tightened its belt on the overweight members of society. Previously, only people with a Body Mass Index of 33 or more were considered as overweight. This level has now been reduced by 16%. Now anyone with a BMI of 28 or more is likely to face premiums loaded by at least 50% and as much as 400% if you're really obese.

Insurance companies will often ask an applicant to disclose their height and weight, and then use this information to determine their BMI. If someone's BMI is outside what they consider normal limits, they may be asked to undergo a medical examination to confirm their health status. This is particularly important because in some cases, people with a higher BMI are not necessarily at risk - someone who is very fit, with a high proportion of muscle, may have a higher BMI because muscle is heavier than fat.

Obesity is a growing problem. Over the last 20 years obesity in adults has risen, with more than 60% of men and 50% of women being judged as overweight or obese. And signs are that the problem won't improve. In children aged between 2 and 15, 28% of girls and 22% of boys are overweight.

Obese people are more likely to visit their GP's surgeries and hospital clinics, and to then need treatment, than average weight patients. With the National Health Service's cost for these 'obesity' patients estimated to be at £15 billion a year, it is no wonder insurance companies are becoming increasingly concerned. The simple fact is that overweight and obese people are more likely to suffer from health problems such as diabetes, stoke and heart attack.

However, insurance companies will also take a person's age into account when determining how their BMI affects their premiums. Most people do naturally gain a little weight as they age - 'middle aged spread' is a fact of life that insurance companies do acknowledge. As you age, the effects of weight on premiums does reduce slightly, and insurance companies are more likely to be lenient with someone who is overweight at 55 than if someone overweight at 35.