6 Reasons Your Life Insurance Rate Might Be High—That Have Nothing to Do With Health

Life insurance doesn’t come with a “one size fits all” rate because your policy is tailored to your particular balance of age, health and other factors. You might already know that medical details play a big role in determining life insurance rates (although some policies might cover more pre- existing conditions than you’d think).

What fewer people know is that even if you’re in perfect health, certain lifestyle decisions and habits might put you in a higher-risk category. Being in a higher-risk category means that your insurance costs might be higher, or in some cases these lifestyle factors might lead an insurer to decline to offer you coverage.

1. If You’re a Risky Driver

One of the riskiest activities you do is likely part of your everyday routine, as mundane as a bread-and-milk grocery run. Accidents are the third leading cause of death overall in the United States (statistics as of December 2024).

Your behavior behind the wheel can affect not only your car insurance rates, but life insurance, too. The insurance company typically requests your motor vehicle report to get a sense of how safe a driver you are. If your record shows you have been driving under the influence or driving while impaired, or you have a history of speeding, your rates might go up in response to that risk.

2. If You Take Smoke Breaks

The connection between tobacco use and serious medical conditions is so strong that calling smoking a “lifestyle” factor rather than a health factor almost feels like cheating. Decades of studies have demonstrated harmful or even deadly impacts of smoking. Vaping is a newer practice, but scientists are concerned that a vape can harm your lungs, too.

If you use tobacco, expect to see your life insurance rates go up, period. And pretty substantially in most cases, too. Quitting smoking may be a way to improve your odds of staying healthy. The longer you leave tobacco behind, the more you may see a positive impact on your life insurance risk classification and rates, as well.

3. If You Have a Criminal Record

Life insurance underwriters are trying to understand the fullest picture of who you are, including mistakes you may have made in the past. Insurance providers have thorough processes to gather information, so it’s best to be forthcoming on your application.

Underwriters aren’t interested in judging misdemeanors or felonies on your record—they’ll leave that to the court system. What they are interested in is considering how a criminal record might affect your likelihood to pass away sooner. A felony conviction may make it harder or more expensive to find life insurance coverage, whereas a misdemeanor might not have as much of an impact. An offense that happened a long time ago may also have less of an effect on a life insurance application, especially if the underwriter can see that you’ve been living a low-risk lifestyle on the right side of the law for many years. Of course, all of this will vary depending on the guidelines of the insurer, and your particular situation.

4. If You’re a Thrill Seeker

To some people, “wild ride” and “cliffhanger” refer to a page-turning novel. For others, these terms mean something much more immersive. If your taste in hobbies is on the wilder side, enjoy your adventure! But keep in mind that some more adrenaline-fueled hobbies can put you in a higher life insurance risk category.

Not all life insurance companies view high-risk hobbies the same way. Some companies will decline amateur aviators, while other companies may make a decision based on flight hours per year. Not all companies ask about the same set of hobbies, either. But as a general rule of thumb, many life insurance providers may want to know if you take part in the following:

• Scuba diving

• Rock climbing

• Skydiving

• Motorsports

• Piloting an aircraft

• Bungee jumping

Basically, if you can imagine a new friend gasping, “Oh my gosh, I’d die,” when they learn about your favorite weekend thrill, a life insurance underwriter may also be considering the potential mortality risk.

(Disclaimer: We in no way mean to imply that underwriters cannot be adrenaline junkies in their personal pursuits. Probably at least some of them love skydiving! As well as having their feet on the ground. In their living room. With a book.)

5. If You Work a Dangerous Job

Even if your job is stressful sometimes, office work isn’t likely to make a difference on your life insurance application. Of course, if your office is in the National Chemical Lab of Toxins and Corrosive Substances (disclaimer: not a real workplace), this could change. Occupations that carry more risk and higher rates of fatal accidents on the job might influence your life insurance rates.

Some of the more dangerous occupations in the United States include logging, roofing, fishing/hunting and construction. Your occupation may also be more likely to raise your insurance premiums if you have to go to dangerous environments (e.g., the sea, parts of the world with war or disease outbreak). People in active duty in the military may also face higher rates or a harder time qualifying for life insurance.

6. If You Have Financial Troubles

In some cases, insurance companies can perform a soft credit check (the kind of check that will not negatively impact your credit score). They use information from this check to determine your “insurance score.” An insurance score isn’t exactly the same as a credit score, but it considers factors like missed payments or bankruptcies.

An insurance company may view a low credit-based insurance score as a sign that you’re more likely to make claims on a policy you own. A history of missing payments may also be a warning sign that you could miss premium payments on your policy.

You can’t be denied coverage based solely on an unfavorable credit-based insurance score. Five states also limit or prohibit insurance companies from using credit information as part of their underwriting criteria. But in states that allow it, underwriters might consider your insurance score (and by extension your credit) as an element of your overall risk, which may have a positive or negative impact on your rates.

Your health is likely an important part of your life insurance application, but it’s far from the only factor underwriters consider. Your habits and how you spend your time can make a difference on your premium rates, too.

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