Life Insurance For Overweight And Obese BMI Table Rating

You might be wondering, do companies sell life insurance for overweight people? Can I purchase life insurance coverage if I’m obese? If so, what weight or BMI will keep me within their limits?

After all, from our doctors to our lecture halls to our media, we constantly hear about the dangers of obesity and how it increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.

In the rest of the piece, we’ll dig into this in more detail. In particular:

• Why your weight matters to life insurance companies
• How life insurers obtain and use your weight data
• What that means for your rating class, and, ultimately, your life insurance cost

Why Your Weight Matters

Purchasing life insurance coverage can feel invasive and rife with judgment. However, no one is looking at your physical appearance or attractiveness.

Life insurance companies are in the business of analyzing the risk that you will die (your mortality risk). The longer you live, the more they profit.

Since they don’t have a crystal ball, they, of course, have to use the medical history they have for you now to estimate your mortality risk in the future.

The Long-Term Health Risks Of High Body Fat

One factor that has a very strong long-term correlation with mortality risk is body fat.

Body fat levels are linked to serious health conditions that increase mortality risk. According to Medline Plus, these include:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Sleep apnea
• Osteoarthritis
• Fatty liver disease
• Kidney disease

While you may not have these conditions now, historical data tells the insurance company that you will likely develop one or more of these conditions in the future.

Using BMI To Estimate Body Fat %

It is difficult (and expensive) to directly measure a person’s body fat. Therefore, life insurance companies often use an indirect measure called Body Mass Index. BMI is an estimate of your body fat based on height, weight, gender, and age.

Weight Questions On A Life Insurance Application

A life insurance company can learn about your weight in one of two ways:

• Your life insurance application
• The post-application medical exam

The first place you’ll be asked about your weight is in your life insurance application’s initial “personal information” section, as shown in the screenshot below from Bestow‘s life insurance application.

Most life insurance companies also ask about any significant weight loss you’ve experienced recently. Since recent weight loss is often hard to maintain, many insurers will give you only 50% credit for this amount.

For example, let’s say you’ve lost 30 pounds in the past 6 months, from 180 pounds to 150 pounds. Instead of considering your current weight to be 150, your insurer will conservatively add back half of the weight you lost and consider your weight to be 165 pounds.

For traditional life insurance companies, which typically require a medical exam, you’ll likely have your height and weight confirmed by a nurse during your medical exam.

Check Out: The Relationship Between Smoking and Life Insurance Validity

How A Life Insurance Company Uses Your BMI

Life insurance companies decide whether or not to approve you by putting applicants in various “rate classes”. A big factor here is your body mass index.

As the name suggests, this also determines your life insurance rates (or life insurance premiums).

Life Insurance Ratings Classes & BMI

Many factors determine an individual’s rating class, such as their cholesterol levels, blood pressure, smoker status, and “build,” among others.

You must meet all of the criteria of a specific rating class to qualify for that class.

The chart below shows the height-weight (or “build”) thresholds many life insurance underwriters use.

According to the chart, someone who is 5 foot, 6 inches tall will qualify for:

• Preferred Plus if they are less than 180 pounds
• Preferred if they are 180-200 pounds
• Standard Plus if they are 200-210 pounds
• Standard if they are 210-222 pounds
• Table Ratings if they are 222-308 pounds

In other words, this table tells you your life insurance weight limits. If you try to buy life insurance while you are over the maximum weight limit, you will be denied coverage.

Life insurance underwriters do not have leeway with these limits. Finally, to state the obvious, the way to get the best life insurance rates is to begin losing weight and reducing your risk of health issues.

Table: Obese BMI Table Ratings

Height	Pref Plus	Pref	Standard Plus	Standard	Table Rate
4′ 10″	135	155	165	170	182 – 249
4′ 11″	141	160	170	176	187 – 254
5′ 0″	146	166	177	184	193 – 262
5′ 1″	152	173	185	191	199 – 269
5′ 2″	158	179	190	197	205 – 277
5′ 3″	164	184	195	203	213 – 284
5′ 4″	169	189	200	209	221 – 292
5′ 5″	174	194	205	215	226 – 299
5′ 6″	180	200	210	222	232 – 308
5′ 7″	185	205	215	228	239 – 316
5′ 8″	189	209	220	235	246 – 324
5′ 9″	195	215	225	242	254 – 331
5′ 10″	200	221	232	250	262 – 340
5′ 11″	206	227	237	258	269 – 349
6′ 0″	211	232	244	265	275 – 356
6′ 1″	217	239	252	271	282 – 365
6′ 2″	222	244	257	279	289 – 374
6′ 3″	228	250	262	285	296 – 383
6′ 4″	233	255	268	292	301 – 394

Height4′ 10″

Pref Plus135

Pref155

Standard Plus165

Standard170

Table Rate182 – 249

Height4′ 11″

Pref Plus141

Pref160

Standard Plus170

Standard176

Table Rate187 – 254

Height5′ 0″

Pref Plus146

Pref166

Standard Plus177

Standard184

Table Rate193 – 262

Height5′ 1″

Pref Plus152

Pref173

Standard Plus185

Standard191

Table Rate199 – 269

Height5′ 2″

Pref Plus158

Pref179

Standard Plus190

Standard197

Table Rate205 – 277

Height5′ 3″

Pref Plus164

Pref184

Standard Plus195

Standard203

Table Rate213 – 284

Height5′ 4″

Pref Plus169

Pref189

Standard Plus200

Standard209

Table Rate221 – 292

Height5′ 5″

Pref Plus174

Pref194

Standard Plus205

Standard215

Table Rate226 – 299

Height5′ 6″

Pref Plus180

Pref200

Standard Plus210

Standard222

Table Rate232 – 308

Height5′ 7″

Pref Plus185

Pref205

Standard Plus215

Standard228

Table Rate239 – 316

Height5′ 8″

Pref Plus189

Pref209

Standard Plus220

Standard235

Table Rate246 – 324

Height5′ 9″

Pref Plus195

Pref215

Standard Plus225

Standard242

Table Rate254 – 331

Height5′ 10″

Pref Plus200

Pref221

Standard Plus232

Standard250

Table Rate262 – 340

Height5′ 11″

Pref Plus206

Pref227

Standard Plus237

Standard258

Table Rate269 – 349

Height6′ 0″

Pref Plus211

Pref232

Standard Plus244

Standard265

Table Rate275 – 356

Height6′ 1″

Pref Plus217

Pref239

Standard Plus252

Standard271

Table Rate282 – 365

Height6′ 2″

Pref Plus222

Pref244

Standard Plus257

Standard279

Table Rate289 – 374

Height6′ 3″

Pref Plus228

Pref250

Standard Plus262

Standard285

Table Rate296 – 383

Height6′ 4″

Pref Plus233

Pref255

Standard Plus268

Standard292

Table Rate301 – 394

Can Overweight People Get Life Insurance?

So, what’s the verdict on overweight life insurance? Does life insurance for overweight people exist?

Whether it’s permanent or traditional life insurance, the answer is an overwhelming yes!

As long as you weigh less than the figure in the far-right column (for your height), life insurance companies will have no problem approving you.

The caveat is that life insurance rates will be 2-4x higher than the standard rate and towards the higher end for those who are obese. However, compared to the risks of having no coverage, you may still want to purchase life insurance despite this differential in life insurance rates.

Unless your build (BMI) is in the highest 1% of the population, a life insurance company will not deny you solely because of your weight.

If you look at a life insurance company’s “build chart” (a height-weight chart), you’ll see that individuals far over the “obese” threshold, per the body mass index (BMI) scale, can still be approved within insurers’ table rate classes.

While your life insurance rates may be higher, you can still get a million-dollar life insurance policy while obese. That’s valuable coverage for your family!

As mentioned, they will pay much higher life insurance rates vs. the standard rate, but the bottom line is that they still qualify for approval.

What If You Have Been Denied For Life Insurance?

Very few people will be denied life insurance coverage solely due to a high BMI.

But let’s say that a life insurance company did deny you, and the reason cited was your build. What are your options if you still want life insurance?

1. Lose Weight

The first of these options is obvious. You could lose enough weight to fall within the company’s build chart.

As if this weren’t hard enough, note that life insurance companies will give you only partial credit for the weight you’ve lost in the previous 12 months.

2. Find A Lenient Life Insurance Company & Re-Apply

Second, you could apply for a life insurance policy at another insurer.

Is this just an exercise in insanity (“trying the same thing over again and expecting different results”)?

Not at all. While insurance carriers have very similar weight thresholds for regular rate classes, their ranges are wildly different for their table rate classes.

For example, for a 5′ 9″ male, the weight limit for Mutual of Omaha’s final table rating is 266 pounds; however, for Pacific Life, it is 349!

Therefore, your life insurance denial could very well result from bad luck. I.e., you happened to choose an insurer with strict weight criteria.

If this were the case, your approval odds could be significantly higher with other insurers.

3. Buy A Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance Policy

A third option, especially if you need coverage immediately, is to apply with a life insurance company that offers “guaranteed acceptance” policies.

As the name suggests, approval is guaranteed with these policies, and your weight is not a factor.

But as you probably guessed, there’s a catch:

• Guaranteed acceptance policies offer minimal coverage, typically no more than $25,000 (industry-wide).
• Monthly premiums are significantly higher than an equivalent, fully underwritten term life insurance policy — so investing your premium amounts may be more economical than putting those funds towards an insurance policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

We hope this helped answer most of your questions about how your weight affects your ability to be approved for life insurance.

If you have any questions left, however, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or send us an email at [email protected].

Warm Regards,
The GetSure Team