Your health and life insurance - how are they related

Irrespective of whether you are choosing term life insurance or whole life insurance, your health has a major role to play in the kind of life insurance rate that you can obtain. Each and every life insurance company requires that every time an individual asks for a life insurance quote, they are provided with a potential life insurance policy, a life insurance rate and a life insurance settlement agreement only after a thorough medical check up has been conducted. This is done irrespective of whether you are seeking a term life insurance quote or a whole life insurance quote.

The life insurance company requires your detailed risk profile to be able to judge what kind of premium you will pay. The life insurance rate that you get depends heavily on the kind of health that you keep and the kind of risk that you expose yourself to. A life insurance company has various methods that are used to classify the various risk elements and level of health into various categories. The specific risk factors will obviously be different (a pilot has a different risk factor as compared to a mountaineer, a professional boxer or a corporate executive) and depend on aspects like lifestyle, work, age and medical history. The information that is provided in the life insurance forms is almost always totally confidential and is used only to categorize various individuals, based on their risk profile, into risk categories.

The process of evaluation of these risk factors is called underwriting. To gain a comprehensive idea of the kind of risks that you are exposed to, such an evaluation includes your height, weight, health, medical history, family medical history, lifestyle parameters like interests and hobbies, smoking and drinking habits and details about the kind of work that you do.

The medical examination for the underwriting is likely to include regular check ups like the blood pressure, pulse and general physical attributes. However, a pathological check of your urine and blood sample is also mandatory. These samples are generally checked for nicotine, sugar levels, drugs, cholesterol and various other infections and diseases. An ECG (Electrocardiogram) also forms a part of the check up where the rhythm of the heart beat is checked and any kind of an irregularity is ruled out.

In some cases, if the risk profile is too high, you may not be eligible for life insurance coverage, and therefore may be rejected. An outright rejection is generally never the case and there are ways and means of avoiding a rejection and increasing your chances of obtaining life insurance. Even those who suffer from some chronic ailments like cancer, diabetes or a coronary heart disease can avail of a life insurance plan, albeit with lower benefits as compared to others.

Financial consultants can advise you about the type of life insurance that you should opt for. This depends on specific investment needs like retirement planning, long term care or annuities. The amount that you can invest is also taken into account to arrive at a planned investment portfolio. It is recommended that you disclose all financial information to the financial consultant to allow them to aid you in a more informed manner. Suggestions made by the financial consultant can be far more relevant and appropriate if you maintain an honest and open relationship.

The basic rule of thumb is that the higher the risk, the higher the premium. Only about a third of the life insurance quote requests that a life insurance company provides are given out at the best possible rate. The others are lower. There are, however, legal and justified means of reducing the premium that you need to pay. This obviously involves reducing your risk profile in any manner possible.

In the unfortunate and unlikely event of a rejection from a life insurance company, there are other options that you can explore. You can look at investing your money in an annuity to ensure that your money grows at a healthy rate. There are various financial agents who sell annuity plans. Since selling annuities is part of the job for almost all life insurance agents, you can easily get information about alternate investment options from them.