What can impact my life insurance policy?

No one likes to think about their own mortality, but for the protection of your family and those you love most, life insurance can provide the right level of cover should the unexpected happen.

Here, we explore some of the high-risk careers and activities that may impact a life insurance policy.

High-risk jobs that may affect a life insurance policy

When taking out a life insurance policy, you will need to speak to your provider about your job and its level of risk. As some careers are much riskier than others, your provider may deem it necessary to charge you higher premiums (for example, a train driver will likely pay more for life insurance than an office worker), you may be provided cover excluding during a high risk activity or in some cases they may deny you a life insurance policy entirely. In all cases, it’s important to read the Product Disclosure Statement so you know what you’re covered for and how.

Here are some common high-risk jobs that may affect your policy (and why):

• Miner: Working underground and around large, dangerous machinery.
• Roofer or window cleaner: Increased risk of falling from heights.
• Construction worker: Especially those handling dangerous machinery or on multi-storey building sites.
• Armed forces: Whether it’s the Army, Navy or Air Force, there are a number of increased threats to your life when serving in the armed forces (e.g. soldiers deployed to a warzone; pilots handling weaponised aircraft).
• Doctor or nurse: Healthcare workers are more frequently exposed to diseases.
• Police officer: Working with firearms and regularly engaging with dangerous individuals.
• Scientist: If you work with dangerous or explosive chemicals.

Depending on your provider, they will likely assess your career on a scale of risk: low, medium, medium to high, and high risk. From there, they will decide your level of premiums, or whether they will classify your occupation as non-insurable and be unable to offer you a policy.

High-risk activities that could impact your life insurance policy

In addition to a high-risk career, participating in dangerous activities may impact your life insurance policy. Again, when taking out life insurance your provider will speak to you about your lifestyle, your career and your hobbies. If those hobbies are considered high risk, then it may affect your life insurance policy.

Here are some common high-risk activities:

• skydiving
• scuba diving
• outdoor rock climbing
• car, motorcycle or boat racing
• aviation (non-commercial piloting)
• extreme sports like white water rafting and bungee jumping
• skiing

Do you need to change your lifestyle?

Just because you have a high-risk job or you enjoy thrill-seeking hobbies, that doesn’t mean you can’t get life insurance. While it may mean you pay higher premiums, you don’t necessarily have to change your lifestyle.

The most important thing is to be honest with your provider about your job and the activities you engage in. That way they can fully consider a policy for you – after all, if you aren’t truthful and you are injured or die from an accident in a high-risk setting, your life insurance may not cover you for it, which would be devastating for your loved ones.

If you already have a life insurance policy and you’ve started a new job or are engaging in new hobbies, speak to your provider about whether it will affect your current policy.

Check your life insurance policy

It takes a wide diversity of people to make this world go around, and some will have riskier jobs than others or enjoy more extreme hobbies – that doesn’t always mean you can’t get life insurance. 

If you’re ready to consider getting a life insurance policy, then you can request a quick quote with Real Insurance now or call us on 1300 377 325.