Felix Baumgartner broke a world record by free-falling 23 miles and breaking the sound barrier in the process.
If you think he was nervous, you should have talked to his life insurance agent.
Many skydivers might believe that getting life insurance is impossible or super expensive.
If you are a skydiver, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that is farther from the truth.
Just because you like to jump out of perfectly good airplanes, does NOT meant that you cannot get live insurance.
Here’s what you need to know.
What if you already have life insurance?
The good news is that if you already have life insurance, you’re good to go.
You’ll be automatically grandfathered into your policy. Take me for example. I have no intentions of jumping out of a plane and didn’t 2 years ago when I took out my 30 year term policy.
If I were to jump out of plane next year, and my chute didn’t open, it would be a really bad day, but my wife would be protected.
Unlike other circumstances, the life insurance company would still pay out the policy.
What do insurance companies look for regarding skydivers?
If you don’t have life insurance in-force and you’re looking to take out a new policy, here are some of the questions they will have regarding your skydiving activities.
- Number of skydives per year
- Are you a member of a skydiving club?
- Are you willing to accept an exclusion? (note: this is NOT recommended!)
It’s best to upfront when the insurance companies asks for specifics in how often you jump per year.
Sample Life Insurance Quotes for Skydivers
| Carrier | Best Class Avaliable | Flat Extra Club Member | Flat Extra Non-Club | Flat Extra Instructor | Exclusion Available? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assurity | Whatever class they qualify for medically | $2.50-$3.50 | $5.00 | $3.50 | No |
| Genworth | PBNS | $3<50/yr $5 51-100/yr $7.50 100-200/yr $10 200+/yr | $5<50/yr $7.50 51-100/yr Decline >100/yr | $5.00 | No |
| John Hancock | Prfd | $2.50 and up | Likely decline | No | |
| Lincoln Benefit | Prfd | $3<50/yr $5 51-100/yr $7.50 100-200/yr $10 200+/yr | $5<50/yr $7.50 51-100/yr Decline >100/yr | $5.00 | Yes and OK at PNS (state by state) |
A healthy 30 year old can get a $250,000 30 year policy from Lincoln Benefit Life for $340/yr.
Now let’s say that the same individual is in a skydiving club that jumps around 40 times a year.
Because of this he automatically gets moved from Preferred Plus ratings to Preferred.
His policy at preferred ratings will cost him $415/yr through Lincoln. He will also have to pay a $3 flat extra fee per thousand dollars of insurance coverage.
This would add $750 ($3 X 250) to his base rate of $415, making his total annual premium $1,165.
Getting a Quote
Using an independent life insurance agency, allows you to have the ability to work with all the top carriers that will underwrite skydivers.
Working with an independent agent has several benefits. The biggest is that it saves you time and frustration during the life insurance policy hunt.
Sure, you can spend hours on the phone talking to dozens of companies and answering the exact same questions over and over.
The search for an affordable high risk activity life insurance policy can make you want to pull your hair out, but that’s where we can help.
The other advantage is that we know which companies view skydivers more favorably. The better they look at skydiving, the lower your monthly premiums are going to be.
Other factors
Your adventurous hobby isn’t the only thing that the insurance company is going to look at, several other factors that are going to be used to calculate your premiums. One of the biggest contributing factors is your age. The younger that you are, the less risk you’re going to be. If you want to save money, don’t wait any longer to apply for your life insurance policy.
Another factor is your health. If you have any high risk factors such as chronic conditions or diseases, your monthly premiums are going to be higher because you pose more of a risk to the company.
Your basic health like weight and blood pressure can also make your premiums go up. If you’re looking to save money on insurance premiums, an excellent way to do that is by shedding a few pounds. Regular exercise and a good diet can work wonders on your waistline and your wallet. It’s a win-win.
Your Options
When searching for life insurance, you have several different types of policies to choose from, the three main types are term, permanent, and no-exam life insurance. Each of them has pros and cons.
The first type is term life insurance. These plans tend to be the cheapest because they are only effective for a set time. They are sold in a variety of lengths, 5,10,20, 30 years and just about everything in between. Once that set time is up, you no longer have coverage and you’ll have to reapply for a difference plan.
Permanent life insurance (also called whole life insurance) is exactly what it sounds like. These policies will remain in force for as long as you continue to pay the monthly premiums. You’ll never have to reapply or get a new policy. These policies tend to be more expensive, but they also generate a cash value as you continue to pay the premiums through the years. You even decide to look into a return of premium rider. If you ever need it, you can take out a loan on the cash value, which is a nice feature.
The last of the big three is no-exam life insurance policies. These are the most expensive of the three and are normally a “last resort” for most people. As you can probably guess by the name, these life insurance plans don’t require the applicant to take a medical exam to be gain coverage. These plans are great for anyone with a serious health condition or disease that would cause them to be denied a traditional policy.
Life Insurance and skydiving
If you enjoy skydiving, that shouldn’t keep you from getting the life insurance coverage that you and your family deserve. There are dozens of companies that will offer you an affordable life insurance policy that won’t force you to give up one of your favorite hobbies. One of the worst mistakes that you can make (aside from forgetting your parachute) is to not buy life insurance. If something tragic were to happen to you, your family would be left with thousands of dollars in debt and no way to get through that difficult time.
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