How do Health Ratings Work?
How Do Mortgage Protection Insurance companies rate my health?
When you qualify for mortgage protection insurance you receive a rating.
Insurance companies rate you based on your health history and your lifestyle choices.
The healthier you are, the safer the risk will be for the company and the less expensive the premiums will be. As you are less and less healthy and older, the risk for the insurance company is greater so the premium will be more expensive.
Think of it like your credit score when you qualified for your mortgage. The better your credit, the safer the risk which results in a better interest rate. The better the interest rate, the lower your monthly mortgage payment.
What is the best rating I can get?
All insurance companies use the same rating system but they might call it by different names. Below is the order of ratings. The top ratings are the best premiums. As you move down in your rating your premium will get more and more expensive
Non-Tobacco Ratings
Preferred Plus or Preferred Best
Preferred
Standard Plus
Standard
Table A
Table B
Table C
Table D
Table E
Postpone to offer
Decline to offer
Tobacco Ratings
Preferred
Standard
Table A
Table B
Table C
Table D
Table E
Postpone to offer
Decline to offer
Preferred plus non-tobacco is the best offer you can receive. As mentioned above, some companies might call it a different name like preferred best or preferred elite but they are all the top rating for the insurance company.
Of course, the the company could decide to decline the application all together because the risk is too high. They could also postpone to offer until you complete a certain needed test or get a preexisting condition under control.
Getting a good health rating is important! For this reason you need an experienced agent who can guide you and help you get the best rating possible. Don’t worry about paying more for an agent, insurance companies charge the same premiums whether you purchase online or from an agent. So you might as well have an agent point you in the right direction!!
Different insurance companies can be more or less aggressive on different risks or diseases. For example, Company ABC could make better offers for people with hearth health history and make bad offers for people with cancer history. However, Company DEF makes better offers towards people with cancer history and makes bad offer for people with heart health history.