One of the most important things to know about buying a term insurance plan is that the premium you need to pay depends on your health condition. Thus, the premium isn’t the same for every policyholder. Apart from pre-existing illnesses, your body weight and fitness also determine the insurance premium.
Thus, before you look for a term insurance plan, check your body mass index and understand how it impacts the policy you choose.
What is body mass index (BMI)?
The body mass index or BMI refers to a system of assessment that most medical professionals and doctors use to figure out if a person has the right body weight. Primarily, it’s utilized as the basic comprehensive indicator of a person’s state of bodily well-being. In doing this, the BMI uses various factors of a person like height, weight, age, and gender.
The value that is derived from the BMI calculator is utilized to classify a person in one of the given groups –
- Normal weight
- Underweight
- Overweight
- Obese
Being underweight or obese might lead to serious medical problems on a long-term basis. BMI is considered a suitable way for healthcare professionals to identify if you come under a high-risk category.
The formula to calculate BMI is weight (kg) / height (m2)
The effect of BMI on a term insurance plan
Finding the right term insurance plan for a female or male policyholder with a high BMI is never easy. The insurance companies have a BMI chart that they use to figure out how much premium a person will have to pay.
Thus, if you remain on the lower side of the BMI range, then you’ll get a reasonable premium. But you might have to pay a higher premium if you’re in the upper BMI range. Body weight is directly related to premium rates because the insurers increase a premium amount by a certain percentage for obesity.
As BMI is an indication of the fitness and health status of an individual’s body, it impacts the premium rates for term insurance. A high body mass index puts a person at a greater risk of suffering from cardiac diseases. They might also need to visit hospitals on a regular basis due to different weight-related issues.
At the same time, an individual who is at the lower end of BMI than the average is unhealthy as well. They might suffer from some or other underlying health problem that isn’t diagnosed instantly.
The bottom line
You can try to reduce the premium amount by buying a term insurance plan online. This way, you get to compare various plans available for low or high BMI individuals. Buying a plan using the digital mode is going to help you in paying lower premium rates compared to purchasing an insurance policy offline. However, you’ll still have to research all the options available to you and consider your needs.
