Who is “high risk” for life insurance?

If you have ever shopped for life insurance, you know that underwriters consider some candidates “high risk.” This means that you may have a health, lifestyle, or other factor that could make you more of a mortality risk.

The good news is that “high risk” is somewhat of a relative term. Yes, there are some factors that will prevent you from getting preferred best rates from just about all carriers. But at the same time, carriers tend to specialize in underwriting certain risk aggressively. Given the right company, even “higher risk” candidates can get excellent rates.

Prequalification will determine how low those premiums can get. It all starts with the broker obtaining thorough and accurate quote information about the “higher-risk” factors. Here is an overview of them:

Health conditions:

Alcohol abuse
Anxiety
Arthritis
Asthma
Atrial Fibrillation
Autism & Asperger’s
Blood Clot
Blood in Urine
Build
Cancers (All) 
Cholesterol
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Colitis and Crohn’s Disease
Coronary Disease
Depression
Diabetes
Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Drug Use
Epilepsy – Seizures
Family History of genetic disorders
Foreign Nationals/Foreign Travel
Heart and Valve Disease
Heart Disease Post Treatment – Angioplasty – Bypass – Pacemakers
Heart Valve Replacement
Hemochromatosis
Hepatitis
High Blood Pressure
High cholesterol
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Kidney Disease and Renal Insufficiency
Liver Enzyme Elevations
Lupus
Marijuana and Cannabis Use
Multiple Sclerosis
Nervous Disorder
Organ Transplant
Pancreatitis
Parkinsonism-Parkinson’s
Prostate Specific Antigen Elevation
Sarcoidosis
Sleep Apnea
Stroke-Mini Stroke
Suicide attempt / ideation

Lifestyle and hobbies:

Auto racing
Bouldering
Bungee jumping
Foreign travel
Ice climbing
Rock climbing
Mountain climbing
Scuba diving
Sky diving
Personal record:
Bankruptcy
Drivers license suspension
DUi / DWI
Felony conviction
Multiple moving violations
Probation
Time served