These applicants do not realize that life insurance underwriters usually consider your immediate family history when pricing the policy you buy.
Most life insurance companies will want to know at what age your parents or siblings die from a genetic disease like cancer or heart disease.
If one of your parents or siblings dies early from one of these diseases, your rates might be higher for life insurance.
We aim to locate life insurance companies with liberal underwriting to establish optimal pricing for our clients.
Life Insurance with Adverse Family History
Life insurance companies assess your risk differently based on your specific medical history.
Companies will also look at your driving record, hazardous activities, and whether you are a smoker when determining the pricing of your new policy.
The risk classification the life insurance company gives you is the key to finding the most affordable policy with adverse family history.
Life insurance risk classifications
| Preferred Plus Non-smoker | Preferred Smoker |
| Preferred Non-smoker | Standard Smoker |
| Standard Plus Non-smoker | Table A = 25% above standard rates |
| Standard Non-smoker | Table B = 50% above standard rates |
If you are looking into purchasing life insurance with a family history of cancer or heart disease, do not forget to provide this information to your agent.
This allows your agent to do preliminary research to match you with a company best suited to your family’s medical history.
Here are a few questions our agents normally ask when you apply for coverage with one of our highly-rated companies.
- Did any of your immediate family members have cancer or heart disease?
- What was the age of onset or death of each family member?
- How many family members with cancer or heart disease?
- Was it cancer or heart-related illness, or death?
- Was the premature death in siblings or parents?
We will review your answers and sort through the guidelines used by many insurers to determine which company will work best for your family.
Family History Underwriting Guidelines
- Age of Death: Most life insurance underwriters look at any family members who have contracted or died from heart disease or cancer before the age of sixty or sixty-five.
- Age of Diagnosis: Many insurance companies also consider how many family members were affected by the condition and their age when it was diagnosed.
- Several Family Members: If more than one of your relatives were affected by either cancer or heart disease, it might impact your life insurance rates.
- Type of Disease: Furthermore, every company will differ in their specific stance on cancer and heart disease concerning family history. Some insurance providers are primarily concerned with cardiovascular disease only.
- Parents or Siblings: Some life insurance companies only consider the parents’ history and ignore your siblings’ history.
- Gender-Specific Disease: Other companies ignore gender-specific diseases such as testicular cancer or breast cancer if you are not that gender.
- Your Current Age: Progressive life insurance companies will ignore all adverse family history if you are above 60 years old.
At this point, you may be curious about which life insurance companies can offer you the best life insurance rates for your coverage needs.
Depending on your family history details, we recommend a few specialty life insurance companies.
Best Insurance companies for family history
| Company | AM Best Rating |
| American General | A |
| Banner Life | A+ |
| Lincoln Financial | A+ |
| North American Life | A+ |
| Protective Life | A+ |
| Prudential | A+ |
To not be penalized with higher rates, work with an agent who understands the insurance guidelines for many companies.
If you are honest about your family’s longevity, it can make a huge difference in what you pay for coverage.
Each life insurance company has health classifications that put you into different pricing tiers based on your family’s health history.
If one of your parents or siblings dies from either cancer or heart disease, your rates might be negatively affected.
You will also be placed into a category based on your family member’s age when they contracted or died from the disease.
It can even make a difference if your parent’s death occurred at age 59 compared to age 61 with some life insurance companies.
This is why it is vital to use an independent agent to help you choose a life insurance company with a cutoff age of 65.
The final result is a cheaper-priced policy with a preferred plus rate classification!
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Family History Case Study:
Here is an example illustrating how family history can affect your premiums.
Ted applies for a $500,000 policy at 45 years old. Notice the price difference when he applies with a liberal family history company compared to a company having stricter underwriting guidelines.
| Liberal | Strict | |
| Rate Class | Preferred Plus | Standard Plus |
| Premium | $600 | $940 |
Impressive, that is over $300 in savings per year for Teddy, with nearly $6,000 in savings over 20 years.
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Naturally, you will want to compare quotes because rates can vary from one company to another. We offer a very competitive rate on both term and universal life insurance.
Term Life Insurance offers guaranteed death benefits and level premiums for between 10 and 30 years.
Universal Life Insurance is a form of permanent life insurance with the premium and death benefit guaranteed for your entire lifetime.
Affordable Life USA makes finding the companies that offer the most liberal family history guidelines easy with our search engine.
Do You Need Life Insurance Quotes?
Do You Need Life Insurance Quotes?- First, select your Coverage Duration
- Next, choose your Coverage Amount
- Finally, view prices by pressing Get Quote
FAQ
How long is the Application Process?
The underwriting time varies depending on whether your agent recommends the no exam or exam underwriting process.
It some case it may only take a week to approve your policy!
However, if a medical exam and medical records are needed from your doctor, the average time is 2-3 weeks from when you take your examination.
Can I qualify with a medical condition?
Getting great rates on life insurance with a pre-existing medical condition can be relatively easy or more complicated, depending on the details of your specific medical condition.
With many common treatable conditions like hypertension, cholesterol, depression, and diabetes, getting approved with excellent rates is possible.
We have the niche company relationships and proven strategies to secure the lowest prices available if you are being treated for one of these common ailments.
Are you attempting to get life insurance for pre-existing conditions that are more serious?
Then, we always recommend doing a little more preliminary research to get the coverage with the rates you deserve hopefully.
We use clinical underwriting to help you obtain life insurance for pre existing conditions that are more complicated like heart disease and cancer.
Let us help you by applying our knowledge of life insurance underwriting to find you the cheapest life insurance policy based on your health and lifestyle.
Life Insurance Underwriting Tips
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Affordable Life USA is a leading independent insurance agency offering comprehensive life insurance solutions to clients nationwide.
Eric Van Haaften, LUTCF
1-877-249-1358
