Factors That Affect Your Life Insurance Premiums

It is general knowledge that your age and health status affect life insurance rates. However, there are still a variety of factors that influence how much you pay for your insurance premiums and how they are calculated.

Insurance companies consider these factors to know how much of a risk you pose.  Read on for the 5 factors that determine your life insurance rates.

1.      Gender
​This factor is based on the idea that women tend to live longer than men so they will most likely enjoy lower life insurance premiums. According to a study, the average life expectancy of men and women in the United States has a significant difference of slightly more than 5 years (75.35 for men while 80.51 for women).

2.      Bankruptcy
Although your credit history does not largely affect your life insurance premiums like it might for auto and home insurance, a record of bankruptcy can have an effect. Some companies would not offer term life coverage to individuals until their bankruptcy has been discharged for at least a couple of years and a discharge of at least five years if you’ve filed bankruptcy more than once (for the most recent one at that).

3.      Occupation
​Your occupation is a risk to the insurance company as some professions are deemed to work in a safer environment than others. Insurance companies may deny coverage if you are in a substantially higher risk profession like fire fighters, coal miners, armed guards and pilots since they have a higher potential for accidental deaths.

4.      Driving record
A recent study shows that only about 36% of clients recognize the influence of driving records when it comes to life insurance coverage.
Depending on the amount of coverage you want to acquire, it is the company’s discretion on whether to have a motor vehicle records check for people who would apply for life insurance. Generally, if you have a good driving record, the insurance company will most likely consider you to qualify for coverage. If you have had some serious violations and don’t have a clean driving record then it can greatly affect your application.
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5.      Hobbies
If you partake in dangerous hobbies like sky diving, skiing, hang gliding, motorsports and rock climbing, it can negatively affect your premium as you are more likely to be at risk for accidents thus making it difficult to qualify for life insurance coverage.

Premiums can vary from one insurance company to another since they have different supporting criteria to determine whether to issue an insurance policy and what price.
Roper Insurance Service can help you with your insurance needs with our great service and competitive rates. Call us at (828) 697-6709 or visit our office today. You may get a free quote here.

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