Obesity can impact premium rates of your insurance policy

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A fit body, a calm mind and a house full of love. These things cannot be bought – they must be earned. The famous lines by Naval Ravikant, a legendary entrepreneur and philosopher, also underscores how a healthy body and mind can lay the foundation to happy family life. Having said that, though enjoying a healthy lifestyle remains one of the top priorities, very few of us actually make an attempt to attain the same. Hectic work schedules, increasing inactivity and high stress due to increasing aspirations are some of the reasons for increasing lifestyle ailments.

The most common and dangerous bad practices include eating junk food regularly and physical inactivity. This in turn leads to overweight issues which can further lead to an increased risk of life-threatening illnesses like diabetes, heart disorders, among others.

It is therefore at the time of buying insurance, weight is considered to be one of the important parameters for assessing the health conditions of the customer. The Body Mass Index (BMI) indicates the fitness level based on which life expectancy is determined. The index points out whether the person has the right weight to live a healthy life based on which policy is issued.

Impact on premium rates

One of the important criteria while computing premium is the current weight of the customer. The healthy person is charged according to the standard premium rates of the company. However, insurers may charge higher premiums if the policyholder is overweight or underweight as it carries a higher risk of falling sick.

What to do?

Adapting to a healthy lifestyle is the key to stay healthy. By eating a healthy diet, regular exercise, and not indulging in drinking and smoking you can maintain a proper weight, which can reduce the risk of developing chronic illnesses. Moreover, one also needs to take care of one’s mental health, as hypertension during the times of Covid can have an adverse effect on health.

However, one cannot rule out that one may be underweight or overweight but still healthy. In that case, the person can apply for re-evaluation so that premium rates do not get affected due to over or underweight conditions. “In order to put the life insurance plan into reconsideration, the policyholder needs to apply for the re-evaluation with the concerned department of the insurance company. It may require a policyholder to undergo a fresh medical check-up from the physician or authorized pathological lab. And in a scenario, a life insurance company doesn’t permit re-evaluation, the person can go apply for a new life insurance plan at a different company and can leverage for new benefits at a reasonable premium cost,” Naval Goel, founder and CEO of PolicyX told Money9.