How to Reduce Life Insurance Premium with Healthy Living
With the start of a new year, it is inevitable that people make plans to live happier and healthier in the coming months. It is a clean slate on which to write a better future. The media goes into frenzy, with diets and detoxes at every turn and New Year’s resolutions are still in the forefront of our minds, have yet to be forgotten.
We also feel a desire to get things in order – complete the life admin tasks like switching bank accounts, creating a saving plan, getting better insurance – and become altogether more organised. When it comes to insurance, there is a situation where all of these points come together. By making changes to your lifestyle and improving your general health, you can save yourself money by lowering insurance premiums.
As a specialist life insurance broker, Your Life Protected battle everyday to get lower premiums for our customers. We know how the insurance industry works and how each insurer approaches the specialist conditions that we cover. As a result of working closely with insurers, we know what makes them load their premiums and charge you more for cover. It is our insider knowledge that allows us to get the best cover and the most competitive rates for you.
With anything that we need to buy nowadays, it makes sense to shop around first for the best deals and then ask ourselves – what can I do to drive down costs further? The same is true for the insurance industry. The simple fact is that your lifestyle has a direct and major impact on your insurance premium. You’ll be surprised by the true extent of that impact.
How to reduce insurance premiums?
As we have insight into the process, we thought we’d share it with you so you have the knowledge you need and perhaps an extra incentive to make those positive changes.
Here are some of the major factors that most insurers will ask you about and that will increase your premiums. If you want to know how to reduce insurance then you may want to consider these common conditions:
1. Blood Pressure:
When a blood pressure reading is taken it is broken down into 2 readings:
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- Systolic (The pressure in the arteries when the heart beats)
- Diastolic (The pressure in the arteries when the heart is resting)
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An overall reading would look something like this 125/80.
If you suffer with high blood pressure, life insurance companies will be very likely to increase your premiums because of additional risk. Below you can see readings that should usually achieve best rates for a life insurance policy:
Systolic: 110 – 145 Diastolic: 60 – 90
So if you are setting yourself health goals for the year ahead these are a good place to start. If your blood pressure currently exceeds these ranges and you are able to reduce your levels, there is a good chance you could save on your premiums.
We do have considerable experience in getting great cover for people with Hypertension.
2. Obesity:
BMI (Body Mass Index) is a measure of a human’s body shape based on their height and weight. Life Insurance providers will take into account your BMI when underwriting a policy. If you are deemed to be overweight or obese, your premiums may be loaded.
We have created a BMI calculator which will allow you to check yours out and see which category you fall in:
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3. Smoking
This is perhaps obvious but if you smoke your insurance premium will be higher, a lot higher. You may still be surprised at the amount of extra money this ends up costing you in insurance premiums. As a rule of thumb, smokers pay approximately double for their premiums. We have put together an example:
Based on a 50 year old Male on £100,000 cover over a 10 year term:
Non Smokers Price: £16.70 per month Smokers Price: £34.60 per month
If you want to know how to reduce insurance and you smoke, the simple answer is to quit. There are plenty of reasons why stopping smoking frequently tops New Year’s resolution lists but reducing insurance is another one. We know how hard this can be. The NHS campaign Smoke Free has launched to try and help people take those difficult steps towards quitting and offers a whole system of support.
Your Life Protected Specialist Life Insurance
As specialist insurance brokers, Your Life Protected use our expert knowledge of the industry to secure excellent affordable cover in numerous areas. Call us today on 01275 404268 for a quote or fill out a free online form to get a quote.