When assessing an application for protection, such as life insurance, critical illness or sickness, it would appear that underwriters are taking a lot more note of an applicant’s weight.
A recent study by the University of Glasgow showed that illnesses related to obesity added costs to the NHS in Scotland of nearly £200m. This is a similar amount to costs added by smokers. However, it is widely known that smokers have to pay more for cover, but not for their weight.
A number of insurance companies in England do take weight into account when assessing the risk of claim on a policy.
Actuarial and risk manager for BUPA, Fiona Harris said: “studies have demonstrated a link between obesity and long term sickness, life expectancy and the risk of critical illness”.
Our View
Obesity is an increasing problem in the UK and it does affect health, just like smoking. We can see that people assessed as being overweight will be asked to pay higher premiums as they pose a greater risk of claim.
What we do not know is how ‘overweight’ will be defined. There have been so many studies regarding the optimum weight for height but nothing has been agreed as a set standard.
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