Obesity will influence life insurance premiums

Mon, 18 Jun 2007

A suspicion long held in the UK life insurance industry, that body weight will influence life insurance policy premiums, has been confirmed by the Association of British Insurers (ABI.) The association say that insurers must cover themselves against increased likelihood of claims, and obesity significantly increases this.

A spokesperson of the ABI, Jonathon French, reportedly commented: "Lifestyle factors could have a bearing on the premium that you pay - and it's likely that different insurers will use different measures to determine lifestyle factors. Insurers look for factors which are likely to increase the risk of a claim being made. For example, if you smoke then there is a higher likelihood of you contracting a variety of illnesses than if you don't smoke. In the same way, if you are obese there is a higher risk of other health problems resulting from that, and therefore the risk of a claim is going to be higher and insurers will price their policy accordingly."

If one does change their lifestyle and health, French comments, your life insurance situation could well improve. He reportedly concluded: "If you let your insurance company know that you've changed your lifestyle and your state of health has improved, then they might well - in fact in most cases they will - amend the premiums in your favour."
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