Most of our applicants qualify for term life insurance. Life Insurance companies have a process called underwriting where they assess the risks of your policy. They review your lifestyle and health factors such as: your current health, medical history, family history, nicotine use, driving record, and any hazardous activities. 
TermHero will gladly help you estimate your rating class before you submit an application. To do so, you need to call us. Keep in mind, that your official rating will come directly from the insurance carrier and thus they decide the cost of the coverage. 

Here’s how the process works.

Underwriting
To determine risk, life insurance companies collect and analyze information about you and compare it to a set of underwriting guidelines. Think about it like auto insurance. An auto insurance company guideline may allow for up to three moving violations in the last five years. More than that and you may be declined coverage. No violations? You would be a low-risk safe driver and would receive a lower price for your policy.
The idea is the same for term life insurance. For term life insurance the super healthy, low risk applicants receive the lowest rates.

Rating Classes
The life insurance company will assign a rating class to your application based on the risk you present. In the above example, your excellent driving record is one reason you would be classified as “preferred.” Preferred risks save money compared to standard risks. 

Your rating class determines the cost or premium that you pay for the policy. Rating classes vary from company to company but they all use the same basic convention, as illustrated below.

Rating Class           Policy Risk            Policy Premium
Preferred                Low                     Least Expensive
Standard               Average               Average        
Sub-Standard         High                    Most Expensive

All of this can be a bit confusing and overwhelming. The basic factors considered during underwriting include:

Formal application
Insurance exam
Medical history
Motor vehicle report
Additional medical tests
Health/lifestyle questionnaires
Attending physician statements (APS)
Medical Information Bureau (MIB) report
Corporate documents (for business coverage)