Life Insurance & Underwriting for Rock Climbers
During the underwriting process for a life insurance policy, insurance companies look at all sorts of factors, including risk factors that could pose a threat to your health — including hobbies like rock climbing.
Rock climbing is a sport loved by thousands of Canadians. They enjoy the exhilaration they get from climbing rocks indoors. Or perhaps they brave the elements outdoors by challenging themselves in nature with ice and mountain climbing.
But, do life insurance companies love this physically exerting activity as much as you do?
Well, that depends.
You could say the level of endearment term life insurance underwriters feel toward rock climbing spans between love and hate. They love the safety of your enjoying this sport indoors but hate the fact it could be life-threatening.
If you love rock climbing but also want the protection of life insurance, do you have to give up your favorite sport? In the following paragraphs, we’ll look at this question and give you tips on finding the right insurer.
Can I Get Life Insurance if I Participate in Rock Climbing?
Yes, you can, but what you pay and the amount or type of coverage depends on how each insurance company views rock climbing. However, the underwriting process takes much more into consideration than this activity alone, which we will look at later.
Would you like to learn more about how the underwriting process works for life insurance? Have a look at this post.
If you participate in indoor rock climbing you’ll qualify for a standard (lower) rate, provided you fall within the guidelines of health, lifestyle, etc. If you participate in outdoor rock climbing in North America or Europe you’ll be rated higher, and even higher if you rock climb in other areas of the world.
The policies we discuss here are for traditional life insurance only. If, for whatever reason, you can’t get traditional insurance, you can get “no medical” life insurance because there is no underwriting with this type of policy – but, it offers less coverage and the policy is more expensive.
Here are 5 reasons no medical life insurance might be the right choice.
Life Insurance Companies and the Potential Dangers of Rock Climbing
This is where the love of rock climbing begins to wane for life insurers, because they look at the potential hazards such as:
- Death from a fall because of excessive wind, a slip, dislodged rocks from previous climbers, or faulty equipment
- Death by suffocation from avalanches
- Temporary snow blindness from the glare of the sun
- Hypoxia – an oxygen deficiency caused by higher elevations, which can lead to death
Are you curious about how much $500,000 of life insurance might cost you? Click here.
What Affects Underwriting for Rock Climbers?
Along with your health, the following are other factors that underwriters want to know:
- Your age
- If you participate in indoor or outdoor rock climbing
- Frequency of rock climbing excursions
- Your lifestyle
- Heights and altitudes of your climbs
- Type of terrain – established or unestablished trails
- Your rock climbing experience
- Geographical area where you go rock climbing – North America and Europe and/or elsewhere
Questionnaires and Life Insurance Application Requirements
When you participate in rock climbing (regardless of the type of climbing you do) you will have to fill out a mountaineering questionnaire, and if applicable, a foreign travel questionnaire.
At Maple Bay Financial Corp., we are life insurance experts. If you love rock climbing and want the best rate for life insurance, we can help you with that. We know what information you need and what policies best suit your personal situation.
To find out more and to speak with an insurance professional, call us at 1.888.498.5288.
If you learned a lot from this post and you’re interested in exploring similar topics, please visit these posts:Life Insurance and Cocaine, Can I Get Covered?