How to determine your life insurance premium

As a buyer you have very little control over the insurance premium; the insurance company will normally determine the life insurance premium based on a set scale of factors and you can either take it or leave it. However, there are ways in which you can control some of the determining factors effectively lowering your life insurance premium. While some of the factors will be beyond your control knowing about them will help you to fill out the application form and talk to the insurance company on an equal footing.

Factors Under your control

Smoking: It is a well known fact that smokers have to pay higher life insurance premium simply because smoking is often seen as the causative factor responsible for the onset of several chronic and acute ailments. However, the higher premiums are reserved for regular smokers and not for social smokers who enjoy a cigar or pipe of tobacco occasionally.

Weight: Obesity is often seen as the prelude to severe illnesses like diabetes and heart problems, so your weight will also contribute heavily to your life insurance premium. So if you are over or under weight you may have to pay more.

Profession and Hobbies: What you do for a living and what you do for fun can also play a part in determining your life insurance premium. If your occupation entails a high degree of risk or if you are fond of adventurous activities that expose you to potentially life threatening situations, you will end up paying higher premiums.

Overseas Travels: If you tend to travel out of the country frequently and if you spend an extended amount of time overseas your insurance premiums will be higher.

Factors n under your control

Age: Even though you cannot control age, this does not stop the insurance companies from charging you more if you are beyond the age of 40, on the other hand younger people will often get the best life insurance premium rates.

Gender: it has been seen that women pay less than men for insurance coverage because they tend to see a doctor more often and hence live longer.

Health history: Your health history is another crucial constraint; illnesses that you may have suffered from or conditions that you may currently have along with your family's medical history will all be contributing factors. Many people feel that they can get away by stretching the truth about their health history in their life insurance application but by dong this they are risking a possible policy cancellation and a loss of premiums paid.

Depending on the type of coverage that you choose, if you have recovered from a life threatening or chronic illness like cancer or if you have successfully controlled an ailment like diabetes, it can help to lower you premiums.

Your mental health condition and financial records like credit rating will also play a role; the insurance company uses these to find out about your tendency towards risk.