Most people know that your job can affect how much life insurance you can get, but not everyone knows that hobbies can have the same effect. If you collect stamps or paint, you’re probably safe.
On the other hand, your life insurance is likely to be affected if your hobbies take you to the corners of cliffs, the deepest part of the sea, or the open sky. Read on to find out how your high-risk hobbies affect your insurance coverage and which ones give you the most adrenaline rush.
How high-risk activities affect the cost of life insurance
The risk of paying out your policy is considered when a life insurance company decides whether or not to cover you and how much it will cost. During this process, called “underwriting,” the life insurance company looks closely at things like:
- Age,
- weight,
- health history of the family,
- job,
- hobbies
Then, they use that information to put you in a rating class, which determines how much you pay in premiums. When you have hobbies that make you more vulnerable to dangerous natural forces, your chances of dying of something other than natural causes go up. Let’s jump right into some of the most dangerous hobbies affecting your life insurance.
Riskiest things for life insurance
Skydiving
Life insurance companies don’t like a lot of hobbies, and aviation sports like paragliding, skydiving, and skydiving are near the top of the list. When you climb out of a plane, you might have a problem with the plane. Your parachute might not work, you might hit something, or you might not land well.
The rates and coverage you can get will depend on several things:
- How often you jump depends on your level of experience.
- Whether or not you do skydiving for a living,
- The places where you jump are the same.
- How safe are your jumps?
Aviation
Life insurance companies usually worry about more than just people who jump out of planes. Pilots who do it for a living and pilots who do it for fun may have to pay more for life insurance. When you apply for life insurance, you’ll entire an avocation survey, which will ask questions about:
- What kind of plane do you fly
- The rules of your flights
- Your license
You may also have trouble getting insurance if you often hang glide or fly in a hot air balloon. If your hobby takes you up into the air, the insurance company will probably consider it high-risk.
Scuba Diving
Even though scuba diving might seem safer than skydiving, it still has risks. The risks of this hobby are increased by things like broken equipment, drowning, and decompression sickness. Frequency is another thing that makes risks higher.
Pilots and skydivers who dive more often are more experienced, but scuba divers who dive more often are riskier customers. So you can take it easy if you and your family decide to dive as an excursion on a cruise. But if you go deep sea diving often, go alone, or haven’t taken the right lessons, you might have to pay more or even be turned away.
Water Sports
If you like the following dangerous water sports, likely, your life insurance company won’t cover you:
- Racing boats
- Extreme trips on white water rafts
- Surfing
- These actions make drowning more likely.
Mount Climbing
Your life insurance isn’t likely to change if you go to an indoor climbing wall because you love rock climbing. When your climbing hobby ends up taking you to rough places and makes you more likely to fall off the side of a mountain, insurance companies get worried.
As with the other hobbies on this list, you’ll be asked a series of questions to figure out how dangerous your climbing is:
- Your level of experience,
- how often you climb,
- how safe the places you climb are
- your YDS grade.
- How much rope do you use?
Backcountry skiing
Like scuba diving, going to a ski resort with your family, or hitting the slopes with your friends on a marked trail won’t affect your ability to get life insurance. But backcountry skiing and heli-skiing will.
If you ski in these dangerous ways more than 7 days a year, you can expect to pay more now for life insurance. Companies that sell life insurance also think about safety. If you go to a trained professional, your chances of getting coverage are much higher.
Racing
Racing is another hobby that life insurance companies don’t like because of how dangerous it is. Even though safety measures are always improving, racing cars may not be the most dangerous hobby on the list, but it can still put your safety at risk. Races on motorcycles are even more dangerous.
Companies will look at several things, such as:
- your age
- experience level
- frequency of racing
- performance
- the top speed of the car
- the structure of the car
- how big the engine is
It might not even change your rates if you do something like stock car racing now and then. Read on tips on getting insurance if you do any high-risk activities above.
Tips for Taking Life Insurance with High-Risk Hobbies
- Be honest: In your application, be honest about what you like to do for fun. If you don’t tell your life insurance company about your hobby and then die while doing it, the company probably won’t pay out on your policy.
- Get quotes: Each insurance company gives different weight to your hobbies and other risk factors. If one company gives you a high quote or doesn’t cover you, that doesn’t mean every company will. The best method to ensure you obtain the best rates is to get several quotes.
- Get to know the numbers: There are two parts to the quote from the life insurance company: the base premium and the extra flat premium. The base premium amount is only the amount that matches your rating class. The flat extra is a fee added to your base, usually for every $1,000 coverage.
- Consider the price: If your hobby makes it hard for you to get cheap life insurance, you may require to consider whether it’s worth it. After a certain amount of time, if you’re done with your snorkel and rock climbing gear, you may be able to obtain rid of the extra flat fee from your policy.
- Look for coverage for high risks: Some life insurance companies only sell policies to people considered to be high-risk. If you work with a separate agent, you can find companies more likely to offer you a cheap life insurance policy.
Bottom Line
Having life insurance is a basic method to protect your family’s finances. Even if you like to take risks in your hobbies, you shouldn’t put your family at risk of not having enough money after you die.
You have the best chance of receiving the life insurance you need if you get quotes from more than one company, are honest on your application, and think about the safety precautions you start taking when you do your hobbies. Don’t think that you won’t be able to get life insurance because you do one of the things on the list. Start looking today for life insurance.
