Instant online quotes for term life insurance are a great way to get started on the insurance protection you need. By filling out an interactive form with your age, gender, province, smoking status, term, and amount of coverage required, you get competitive quotes from several different Canadian underwriters.
It is important to remember, however, that your instant online term insurance quote is a ballpark figure. Once your application is processed, that number may vary.
Here are some of the things underwriters evaluate:
Age
When it comes to term insurance, the older you are, the higher your premium. Age presents a risk to underwriters because health tends to decrease with age. To accommodate this, premiums do not rise much between the ages of 20 – 35, but they jump dramatically around 40 and rise steadily to age 50, where another big jump takes place.
Typically, you cannot apply for a new term policy if you are over 75, and for the insurers that allow it, the cost to the policyholder is very prohibitive.
To make age work in your favour with a term insurance policy, apply while you are young and in good health.
Most policies allow you to convert your term policy to a permanent one down the road, which will even out the overall costs as well. Term policies are much cheaper in the beginning than permanent ones, but much more expensive in their later years. Permanent polices cost more initially, but wind up being more affordable than term as you age.
Health
The better your health, the better your premium. If you are obese, a smoker, have a history of drug use, never exercise, live off fast food, and have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, you may be offered a ‘rating’ or extra premium becasue the underwriter feels they are taking on more risk by insuring you.
Some health factors are a choice. You can choose not to smoke, not to consume too much soda, or whether or not you eat vegetables. But what if your health is beyond your control?
If your health condition is more serious, such as diabetes or cancer in remission, you can, surprisingly, you may still qualify for a simple issue term policy. If you are denied, you still have insurance options, such as simplified or guaranteed issue life insurance.
Those with health conditions should skip the instant term life insurance quote and speak directly to a broker. Applying for insurance and getting denied can hurt your chances of a successful application later on.
A broker knows the many different policies and insurers in Canada with products that will cover you despite your health condition, so consulting for free with a broker is your best option for finding coverage within your budget.
Hobbies and Occupation
A sky diving enthusiast that works as an underwater photographer specializing in earthquake prone regions that often has to travel to dangerous countries is a far greater risk than the gentleman that works on the ground floor of a high rise office building that is located just a short commute from home.
These are silly and extreme examples, but they show that underwriters will ask about your work and hobbies. The more risk you present, the greater your premium may need to be.
This does not mean you have to give up your dream of flying light aircraft into the eye of tornados or wrestling sharks live on TV. It does mean that you can face ratings or exclusions on your policy, as described above.
Again, if you have extreme work or hobbies, start your insurance search with a broker. Typical white or blue collar jobs, however, will get an accurate quote range by starting with an instant online insurance quote.
Other Considerations
It’s easy to think of life insurance as that thing you should quickly do to get it over with, but if you take the time to design your first policy with your long-term goals in mind, you’ll get an affordable policy that works for you now, and far into the future.
An insurance broker takes the time to understand your needs so they can craft your best life insurance policy. By providing instant term life quotes at the click of a mouse button, your broker is giving you a great place to start your search for coverage, and to see how affordable it really is.
The most important thing is that you get the financial protection you need. Click that quote and then check in with a broker to make sure you are applying for the coverage that will give you peace of mind for the rest of your life.