Overweight Britons can expect to pay up to 50% more for life insurance, as the “fat tax” becomes standard practice for many of the nation’s insurers.
Making matters worse is the fact that insurers are getting ever stricter in determining when a person should have to pay a higher rate – a person was previously only considered a higher risk if they had a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above, but this has fallen as low as 30.
Unfortunately each insurer has their own thresholds, so a person may be subject to a 50% premium hike at one provider and not another. That means it’s more important than ever before for customers to shop around for life insurance policies if they want to avoid paying over the odds.
Life cover: a practical example
If a healthy 40-year-old couple wanted to purchase £200,000 protection against their mortgage, Aegon would charge the couple around £440 a year, and Legal & General £423 a year.
If those applicants were overweight but otherwise healthy, their annual premiums could rise to £660 and £635 respectively, representing a penalty of up to £220. And while paying higher premiums may be hard to swallow, it’s important you avoid the temptation to lie on your application in order to secure a cheaper policy.
Do this and you greatly reduce the possibility of the insurer paying out on a claim. So far from saving money, you’re actually wasting it by paying for a policy that is quite possibly worthless.
Get a quick life cover quote from leading broker ClickLife
An interesting alternative
Quite clearly losing weight is a sure fire way to getting cheaper life insurance, but obviously this can be costly in itself. Gym membership can set you back £40 a month or more.
An interesting solution to this problem is available with insurer Prudential, which includes free gym membership with its policies, as well as a 2.25% discount if you go to the gym at least twice a week.
This creates a win-win scenario - the insurer knows a healthier customer is less likely to claim, and you get to sort out your weight issues on someone else’s tab.
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| BMI | Clinical description |
| 18.5 or less | Underweight |
| 18.5 - 24.9 | Normal |
| 25.0 - 29.9 | Overweight |
| 30.0 - 34.9 | Obese |
| 35.0 - 39.9 | Really Obese |
| 40 or greater | Extremely Obese |
Calculate your own BMI at the NHS website
