The Definition of High-Risk

Life insurance, by its very definition, is something that no one wants to talk about but something everyone needs. There are things that everyone has wondered about life insurance but has been too afraid to ask. Maybe it’s a fear of self-fulfilling prophecy or tempting fate. It’s hard to say. Either way, one of the top questions, no doubt, is “How much will it cost?”

And quite a loaded question it is!

Like all other forms of insurance, the question of premium is not an easy one to answer. There are so many variables that factor into the risk equation that it would take a book to cover them all.

This, however, is a blog, and your time here is very short. So, let’s begin with the obvious. People with high risk jobs naturally end up paying higher insurance premiums.

What exactly defines a high risk job?

Typically, life insurance companies get their data from the same place as everyone else: the U.S. census. Fatal work injury rates are posted and calculated, coming up with a list of the most dangerous jobs in America. Though the list varies from source to source, it’s an interesting read, to say the least.

Unsurprisingly, fishing and logging remains the two most fatal occupations (Deadliest Catch wasn’t kidding), ranking only one spot ahead of law enforcement officers. Pilots and flight engineers fall next in line. Ironically, cab drivers (which fall far lower on the list) have a higher fatality number and lower fatality percentage, but that’s mostly because automobiles on the ground far outnumber jetliners in the sky and plane crashes tend to be overwhelmingly more fatal.

Construction and ground maintenance workers tend to expose themselves to dangerous situations every day as well, although farming/ranching outranks their fatality rate by several points, mostly due to equipment malfunctions and transportation incidents.

Manufacturing and mining also rank high on the list, but in a surprising turn, much higher than utility workers. One would think that people who climb power poles and work that close to transformers and power lines on a daily basis would have higher exposure to danger, but they rank far lower in terms of fatality rate.

Go figure.

If you have a high risk job, however, it’s not impossible to get life insurance. In fact, quite the contrary. There are companies whose sole purpose is to insure higher-risk customers in the most affordable way possible. Don’t put it off because you don’t think you qualify. After all, if the “human cannonball” act at the circus can get life insurance coverage, so can you!

More Choices™

First Baldwin Insurance

Sources:

bls.gov
businessinsider.com