Posts filed under 'Build'
At least one life insurance company out there has come to grips with and made a positive allowance for the fact that as we get older, most of us tend to weigh a little more than we did in our 40’s and 50’s. This is certainly not to say that Prudential has taken a strong stance in favor of obesity, but rather they have taken a reasonable stance (a rare occurrence with insurance companies) on a fairly normal life/age change.
In most cases if you are 65 or older Prudential’s build guidelines can make a one to two rate class difference over other companies. This means that the rate you pay could potentially be 30% or more lower because of their allowance for higher weights.
Just to put some numbers to what this means, let’s assume a 66 year old is applying for $100,000 of 15 year term insurance. He doesn’t have any health problems and has a great family history. His height is 6′ and his weight 225#.
With Prudential he would qualify for their best rate at $989 annually. The next best rate would be with Banner Life at $1367.00. This is huge, especially for someone who may have been penalyzed due to build prior to age 65. It could open the door to locking in lower rates when you most need them, at retirement. This could fit in perfectly with people that are looking at a life insurance supplement to maximize their retirement options.
Bottom line. If you are 65 or older and not getting the best rates due to build, call an independent agent and find out if The Rock might provide your best option.
August 1st, 2007
Apparently there is a significantly better chance of suffering a stroke if you live in the south, with Mississippi leading the way. The percentage of people who have strokes in Mississippi is about twice the national average. I did some relief work there after Katrina and I can tell you that the heat and humidity alone can almost kill a Rocky Mountain guy, but apparently that isn’t the reason for the high incidence of strokes.
The study I read cited the usual risk factors for stroke, only in more abundance in the south. Obesity, diet, diabetes and lack of exercise seemed to be the thread that was more common in the south than the country in general.
Now before someone starts screaming at me, remember that I am just the messenger. The same risk factors play heavily into strokes everywhere. They also seem to be common with heart disease and obesity, diet and lack of exercise contribute to type 2 diabetes.
The life insurance underwriting common thread here is a tendency to not take care of yourself. Remember that avoiding risk factors is the best way to good life insurance rates. If you are obese, the life insurance build charts will raise your rates. If you don’t eat right and don’t exercise, your labs are probably going to show abnormalities like high cholesterol. The same combination can result in high blood pressure. Are you detecting a vicious circle here?
Bottom line, do what your mom told you to do, unless she was wrong! Eat right. Exercise. Don’t smoke. Drink in moderation if you drink.
Just a quick commendation of an insurance company that just did something innovative. Genworth Life and Annuity (formerly First Colony) has been picking up part of the cost of having a stroke screening done by a company that travels all over the country doing screenings. They check the carotid arteries. They check for anheurisms and they also check for peripheral vascular disease. More insurance companies should invest in the health of their customers.
May 18th, 2007
Probably the most disgruntled life insurance clients get is when they are told that their insurance is going to cost more because their estimate of their weight was off, or they weren’t really 5′9, but 5′8 1/2 (which examiners round down, not up).
All insurance companies have build charts and they really do stick to them. A good independent agent might be able to get an underwriter to fudge a pound or two if all other risk factors are good, but generally speaking, if you don’t fit into the height and weight it takes for a certain rate class, you will be bumped to the next higher rate class. More weight. Less height. More money!!!
My advice. Find out what your REAL height and weight are before you talk to an insurance agent and don’t fudge. Don’t round your 1/2″ up. Tell them agent exactly how tall you are. Don’t round your weight off to the nearest 10 pounds. Tell them exactly what you weigh and when you checked it last. I swear if you asked 1000 people what their weight is, 950 of them would come back with a round number like 170#, 180#, 200#, 250#, etc. 50 will provide a number that seems like they must know, like 193#. 25 of them actually will know what they weigh.
This is particularly problematic when people have let their weight get out of control. The higher their weight goes, the more unpleasant it is to check it and the more the tendency is to be off on their guess. It is not uncommon for obese people to be off by 25# to 50#.
The impact on life insurance rates can be dramatic. There are companies out there with reasonably liberal build charts. If you tell an agent your height and weight he is going to make a recommendation based on that and get you the best rate based on build charts. If you are off 15#, it may well be that you would have been better off going to a different company. So at that point you either accept a higher rate or start the process over.
Bottom line. Know your build and don’t fudge. The examiner is going to give the insurance companies the facts.
May 11th, 2007
A person’s build, their height and weight and how that is distributed, is probably the biggest bone of contention in life insurance underwriting. Unlike lab results like cholesterol or liver functions, people can try to chase the weight rabbit a few different directions before they have to deal with reality.
The most common argument thrown about to justify weight is that “I’m a large boned person”. To kind of put this in context let’s draw a couple of pictures of life insurance seekers. One is 5′10″, 185#’s. The other is 5′10″, 240#.
Now I’m a big believer in large boned people. I don’t think they’re lying abut that. While I couldn’t find any reliable articles that actually substantiated the situation, I did some figuring on my own. The following is the big boned facts according to Ed. I’m 5′10″, 175#. Not skinny and not fat. I’m pretty sure I’m not big boned either. I’m thinking “big bones” may add 10% to a person’s body mass. That means that a big boned Me would weigh 192.5#.
On average the people that use the big boned argument are jousting around about 25% above the high average weight for their height. In other words, what life insurance underwriters hear a lot of, is someone 5′10″ and 230#’s saying they are large boned. I guess the bottom line from my unscientific best guesses is that they may very well be large boned, but they have also padded their large bones substantially. Wouldn’t want to break a large bone after all. Healing time is probably much longer than a normal bone.
The other argument thrown out there for larger than average builds is that the person is a weight lifter, a body builder. Now this is a tough argument. There isn’t any doubt that a true body builder has substantially extra muscle mass and weight. 5′10″ and 230#’s might very well be the optimal weight for the true body builder. That’s just a guess, so if you are a body builder and that is really fat or skinny, I didn’t mean to offend you.
Back to my two examples. At 5′10, 185#’s a person, absent any health issues, should qualify for the best rates with most insurance companies. At 240#’s a person would qualify for a standard rate at best. The difference for a 45 year old buying $500,000 of 20 year term insurance is $340 a year if you’re the small guy and $630 a year if you’re the large guy.
I have seen a few underwriters allow some slack for the weight lifters, provided they supply body measurements from their doctor and a photo to go with it. They still won’t make it to the best rate with any company, but they will likely fare better than their big boned counterpart. An independent life insurance agent can help you track down the companies that might have a little wiggle room.
As for the big boned person. Well, a build chart is a build chart and every life insurance company has one. They have to draw the line somewhere and absent a disection to prove the big boned theory…….honestly even with the disection, the underwriter will stick to the build chart.
Now take heart. Not all companies use the same chart and an independent agent can often find you a better rate class than you might otherwise be stuck with. While there is very little wiggle room on a company’s best rate class, they will occasionally bend a bit on other rate classes as long as all other risk factors are in your favor.
April 10th, 2007
Most sleep apnea is diagnosed first by the spouse of the person who has it. Usually they would consider themselves to be the one that suffers from because one of the possible signs of sleep apnea is extraordinarily loud snoring. Actually sleep apnea, left untreated, is a real health issue and can lead to collateral health problems.
The American Sleep Apnea Assocation on their website www.sleepapnea.org kind of sums of sleep apnea like this” Sleep apnea is very common, as common as adult diabetes, and affects more than twelve million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. Risk factors include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. Yet still because of the lack of awareness by the public and healthcare professionals, the vast majority remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant consequences.
Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated. Several treatment options exist, and research into additional options continues.
So, from a life insurance standpoint there is good reason to evaluate the risk carefully. While most well controlled sleep apnea can be underwritten at better than standard rates, it still comes down to compliance and control. The use of a cpap machine while sleeping is not the easiest thing to get used to and many people with sleep apnea are not as compliant with doctors orders as they should be. Occasional use is not what was prescribed and does not provide the control that is needed to avoid collateral health issues.
Sleep apnea can cause sleep deprivation and underwriters, for instance, will take an especically cautious look at a private pilot with sleep apnea. Falling asleep at the wheel can have definite mortality risk ramifications.
Surgical repair of obstructive sleep apnea often completely resolves the issue with no further treatment needed. In these cases, as long as all other risk factors are in balance, preferred rates may be available. Remember though. All other risk factors in balance!!!! If you have the apnea surgically corrected and still weight 290 #’s, don’t expect preferred rates.
Seek out an independent life insurance agent to help you analyze your situation and track down the best possible life insurance quotes for you.
April 7th, 2007
Coronary artery disease (CAD), heart attacks, angioplasty and bypass surgery are generally enough to make the average life insurance agent run for the hills. As they close the door or hang up the phone they will probably be sputtering something about uninsurable. Time to seek out an experienced and knowledgable independent life insurance agent for those quotes. Get someone who understands that heart attacks don’t always kill people and don’t generally make people uninsurable.
Some life insurance companies really do believe that heart issues are the end of the world and therein lies the logic of the independent agent. A good independent agent will have four or five companies that are good with just about any impairment that pops up, whether heart related, build related (height and weight challenged), diabetes or cancer related. Not all companies are good with everything, but generally speaking there are usually a few “go to” companies for most health problems.
What the underwriters want to see is a clear picture of the history of the problem. For heart related issues that would mean a copy of a stress test. For cancer, a pathology report , and for diabetes a blood workup. Then they want to know what was done about it and how it is being currently treated and monitored. Underwriters are definitely up for giving a break to someone who is doing all the right things.
What they don’t want to see is someone who is ignoring sound medical advice, such as continuing to smoke after a cardiac event, only taking medication when you feel like you need it rather than as prescibed, and skipping regularly scheduled followup.
In a nutshell, take your health problem seriously and the insurance companies will bend in your favor.
March 22nd, 2007
Probably nothing rubs me the wrong way worse than an insurance agent who tells someone they are uninsurable just because they don’t represent a company that will make an offer on a particular health problem. Sometimes these agents don’t even understand the health problem well enough to know that they can in fact get the person life insurance. And come on. If all else fails there is always guaranteed issue life insurance. It is a choice of last resort, but anyone can get it.
It just tears me up when agents don’t even shop a case the way a good independent life insurance agent should. I don’t know if it’s just too much work, or they’re just ignorant of their own industry or products, but just because some has had cancer, a heart attack, a stroke, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or their build is just off of the standard charts, DOES NOT MEAN THE PEOPLE ARE UNINSURABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Agents, I think, get lazy and only want to work on the easy cases. Ma and Pa Healthy. I know a few years ago the internet giant brokerage Matrix Direct would only write preferred business and farmed out all of their other leads to independent agents. They didn’t want to do anything that had to be worked on and earned.
I can tell you that there is nothing more satisfying than getting someone the insurance they need after they have been told that they are uninsurable. It’s nice to be able to help someone who has been beat down by the lazy people in our business.
Bottom line is that everyone is insurable for a price. Most people who have been told they are uninsurable, have been told that by someone too lazy to do the work or refer them to someone who will do the work.
March 17th, 2007
Go figure how a website can make it to the top of Google under the search “Life insurance for diabetics” and be completely uninformative and actually misleading.
They start off with statements like this, “Once a person is diagnosed with diabetes, life insurance policies sold within the United States can become unaffordable or unavailable. This is because life insurance policies are allowed by state and federal law to charge a premium based upon an applicant’s health status. In addition, a plan can choose to not provide a policy based upon an applicant’s health status. If a person with diabetes wants to purchase a life insurance policy, the best option is to search for life insurance sold under the laws of another country. Most life insurance salespeople with large firms can help find international underwriters who will sell this type of policy in the United States.”
WHAT AN ABSOLUTE LOAD OF GARBAGE!!! Most people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes need look no further than a reputable independent life insurance agent right here in the US for fair and affordable life insurance quotes. Just like any health situation, whether diabetes, cancer, coronary artery disease, etc, the only issue that life insurance underwriters look at in the United States at is how well controlled the medical situation is.
It is not uncommon for diabetics who show good compliance with doctor’s recommendations, monitor their glucose and A1C readings, and carefully watch other risk factors such as build and hypertension, to get better than standard rates with many companies.
This top seeded website then offers a place to click to get “diabetes life insurance quotes” which takes you to a search engine where there is no information on how to correctly quote yourself as a diabetic. Apparently in whatever country they are from, one quote fits all. In the US that is called bait and switch.
If you are diabetic and looking for life insurance, steer clear of any website with “Spectrum” in their url. If they start out with blatant lies, you can assume it won’t get much better the deeper you dig.
March 14th, 2007
Probably one of the most common surpises and points of contention in life insurance underwriting is when, even though your health is perfect, your life insurance quote changes after you apply because your height and weight (build) weren’t exactly what they thought they were. For that reason, rather than telling your independent insurance agent what you think your height and weight might be, step gently on those scales, get a grip on reality, and an accurate quote up front.
Here is a sample from a middle of the road company. These are their build guidelines for their best rate. Honestly most companies are within a few pounds of this. Some are stricter and some more lenient, but count on them to adhere to it especially if you want their best rate class.
Male Preferred Plus
Build Chart |
| Height |
PPNT |
| 5′ 0″ |
144 |
| 5′ 1″ |
148 |
| 5′ 2″ |
153 |
| 5′ 3″ |
158 |
| 5′ 4″ |
163 |
| 5′ 5″ |
168 |
| 5′ 6″ |
174 |
| 5′ 7″ |
179 |
| 5′ 8″ |
185 |
| 5′ 9″ |
190 |
| 5′ 10″ |
196 |
| 5′ 11″ |
201 |
| 6′ 0″ |
207 |
| 6′ 1″ |
213 |
| 6′ 2″ |
219 |
| 6′ 3″ |
225 |
| 6′ 4″ |
230 |
| 6′ 5″ |
237 |
| 6′ 6″ |
243 |
| 6′ 7″ |
249 |
| 6′ 8″ |
256 |
| 6′ 9″ |
262 |
| 6′ 10″ |
268 |
| 6′ 11″ |
276 |
|
Female Preferred Plus
Build Chart |
| Height |
PPNT |
| 5′ 0″ |
135 |
| 5′ 1″ |
138 |
| 5′ 2″ |
140 |
| 5′ 3″ |
143 |
| 5′ 4″ |
145 |
| 5′ 5″ |
148 |
| 5′ 6″ |
150 |
| 5′ 7″ |
155 |
| 5′ 8″ |
160 |
| 5′ 9″ |
165 |
| 5′ 10″ |
170 |
| 5′ 11″ |
175 |
| 6′ 0″ |
180 |
| 6′ 1″ |
184 |
| 6′ 2″ |
188 |
| 6′ 3″ |
193 |
| 6′ 4″ |
197 |
| 6′ 5″ |
201 |
| 6′ 6″ |
205 |
| 6′ 7″ |
209 |
| 6′ 8″ |
214 |
| 6′ 9″ |
218 |
| 6′ 10″ |
222 |
| 6′ 11″ |
226 |
|
March 10th, 2007
I was recently speaking to a woman and she made the comment that her husband would really like to have term life insurance, but he had been told that he was uninsurable. Being the nosy kind of guy I am, and knowing that she is a nurse and would have good information, I asked about the cause of his uninsurability. She indicated that more than one agent had indicated to her that because her husband had type 1 diabetes, he was uninsurable.
I asked about his treatment, which was an insulin pump. I also asked about his most recent blood workup wth his doctor, and specifically his HbA1c. She indicated that it had been as high as 9, but since starting on the insulin pump, it had dropped to 8. I asked about collateral health issues that are sometimes caused by diabetes such as kidney and eyesight problems. He didn’t have any of those issues. His build, height and weight, were within reasonable limits.
This a classic example of what happens when people, through no fault of their own, place faith in the statement of an insurance agent, not knowing if that agent has the knowledge or the resources to properly address their needs. They they never find a good independent life insurance agent to shop the same facts. The agents they had talked to before were either captive agents who only represented one company, or agents who didn’t understand diabetic underwriting and what companies to go to for the best life insurance quotes.
Given good, or even moderate control, a type 1 diabetic or a type 2 diabetic should be able to get fair and affordable life insurance quotes, as long as their other risk factors are also favorable.
Other common misconceptions that are spread by agents that don’t know any better are that you can’t get life insurance if you have asthma, if you’re over age 75, if you weigh too much, if you have had hepatitis, breast cancer or prostate cancer. Bottom line, don’t accept uninsurable as the answer unless you have consulted an indepedent life insurance agent.
March 3rd, 2007
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