Life Insurance Lifestyle Questions
This section of the life insurance application is a little more in depth and it is here that we provide in depth details of the questions that you may be asked so as to prepare you for most outcomes. All of these questions are for the life or lives that are to be assured on the policy.
The questions in this part of the life insurance application are not strictly medical they are in relation to the insured's lifestyle in general.
You will almost certainly be asked to provide at least some details on your occupation. You will also be asked in which industry you work to be more specific and you may be provided with a list of industries to choose from. These are often the industries that present more danger and the insurer will be interested in order to assess your risk. A few examples of the industries they may ask about are:
- Prison Service
- Police Service
- Offshore oil rigs
- Armed Forces
You may also be asked if you work at or over certain heights, the percentage of your working time you spend doing physical/manual work or whether in addition to you occupation you are in any capacity in the armed forces or the reserve armed forces.
In this section you will also be asked your exact height and weight at the time of the application. If you are a pregnant woman it may be that they ask you for your weight before you became pregnant.
A very important part of the application is included in this section which is whether or not you currently smoke or if you have smoked tobacco products within a set period of time, usually this will be the last 12 months. If you answer 'yes' and admit to being a smoker then you will need to disclose how many cigarettes it is that you smoke each day, if you have given up within the stipulated period you will need to disclose how many it was that you smoked prior to giving up. It is important to be honest here as a simple test that the insurer can ask you to take will prove whether or not you have used tobacco products within the last 12 months.
You will likely also be asked about your alcohol consumption habits and how many units of alcohol it is that you consume over a week or two week period. You may also be asked whether you have ever been given or sought medical advice in relation to your alcohol consumption habits.
Some insurers may proceed to ask whether or not you partake in the use of recreational drugs, for instance a drug that is not used to specifically treat a medical condition. Part of the question will be if you have used such drugs within a period of time, perhaps in the last 3 or 5 years. These drugs could include cannabis, heroin or cocaine.
Most insurers will also be interested in other recreational activities that you may take part in and there could be a section in this part of the proposal where you will be asked about these. It may be that they provide a list of activities that they see as high risk and will ask you if you take part in any of them. A few examples have been shown below:
- Extreme Sports
- Rock Climbing or Scrambling
- Flying
- Diving
- Marine Sports
The insurer may be interested in any overseas activity such as living, travelling or working in certain parts of the world. They may only be interested in whether you have done this in the last 5 or 10 years and they will specifically state which parts of the world that they are interested in or not interested in. It may be that they are not interested in countries visited inside North America and Europe but all others for example.
It may also be that you are asked whether you intend to live, travel or work within certain countries or parts of the world in the near future, for example the next 3 years. Travel is often conceived as a period in excess of a calendar month.
Previous and Concurrent Life Insurance Applications
In order for the policy to be financially assessed and possibly financially underwritten the insurer will need to ascertain how much life insurance you already have in place along with what you are applying for. Insurance companies want to ensure that applicants are not over insured with their company and also across the market.
For almost every life insurance application the insurer will ask about any form of life insurance application that you have made in the past to not just the insurer you are dealing with but any other insurer. It may be that they ask for the amount of cover that these were for and the outcome of the application, for example whether they were accepted by the insurer on standard terms or not. If they are in force they may ask for the name of the insurer and the policy number/s. They might only ask for application within the last year or two but it is best to be prepared. Any application that you are making concurrently whether to the same insurer or a different insurer will need to be disclosed.
The insurer is also likely to ask whether this application along with any other life insurance policy that you already own and that is still in force, exceed a specific amount.
A more in depth Financial Questionnaire may be issued as part of the life insurance underwriting process if the insurer deems this necessary.
