Life insurance provides comfort and security by assuring that, when you pass away, your loved ones will receive financial compensation to take care of expenses that inevitably come. It gives protection to your loved ones and reduces worry for you before you pass on.
But, to obtain this protection, life insurance companies review information on your health and lifestyle to determine whether you can be insured and what your rates will be. The process, called underwriting, weighs the risk of insuring you and balances it out with the cost of your premium. It works well for the company and for many healthy insured but for those with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, it can mean much higher premiums or potentially, denial of coverage.
Life Insurance Underwriting: A Closer Look
Insurance companies determine rates, or premiums, for life insurance policies based on age, physical characteristics, lifestyle habits, health, and medical history. A young, healthy adult with an active lifestyle that doesn’t smoke or drink regularly can qualify for lower rates. The insurance company gathers the information through questionnaires on your application and, when requested, a physical exam with a physician’s statement and prescription history.
Typically, you start the process of obtaining life insurance by filling out an application. You’ll record your personal and contact information, occupation, financial basics, marital status, number of children, and medical history. You’ll also be asked whether you smoke, and how often. You may be asked to choose from preferred amounts of coverage. The application will be forwarded to the underwriting process.
The underwriters will review your application, medical history, and other factors. Sometimes, the insurance company requires a medical exam, which will be part of the underwriter’s review. The level of risk to insure you is key to the results. Factors that put you in a higher risk category include:
- Advanced age
- Health conditions present
- High body mass index (BMI)
- Family medical history of the disease, chronic illness
- Smoking
- Frequent alcohol or drug use
- Poor driving history including tickets, accidents, vehicular crimes, and DUI
Using these risk factors, the life insurance underwriter places you in classifications of risk from Standard to Preferred Plus. Higher risk levels and multiple risks will make your premium rise.
Diabetes and Life Insurance Underwriting
Chronic illnesses such as diabetes raise your health risk, resulting in higher life insurance premiums. You’ll need to report diabetes and other known conditions on your application for almost all life insurance policies. The medical exam may show you that you have diabetes, even if you didn’t know previously, as determined by a blood test. In most cases, you can’t do anything to change what the insurance company will charge you due to your diabetes and related conditions. There’s also a high percentage that you’ll be denied coverage with a chronic illness like diabetes, or receive an extraordinarily high premium.
This has been a huge pain point for diabetics for so long – not being able to get the coverage they need or simply not being able to avoid it because of the exorbitant cost. That’s why we decided to create a better way for diabetics to get the protection they need.
Bypass Life Insurance Underwriting with Diabetic Direct
Are you a diabetic that wants to obtain lower premiums, regardless of your condition? Diabetic Direct completely bypasses the underwriting process, saving you money in lower premiums. Not only will Diabetic Direct save you money but it will save you time as the underwriting process typically takes up to eight weeks. What do you do without life insurance during that time?
With Diabetic Direct, you’re not punished because you have diabetes. You’re treated like any other non-diabetic applicant. Your application will be processed and your rate quoted with no underwriting required. Diabetic Direct is a product that you deserve. It’s the way life insurance should be.
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