So you’re one of the few brave souls on this planet who can not only jump out of a plane, but do so frequently. While you may see it as no big deal, I’m sure you can understand why it can worry life insurance companies. But despite that fact, there is good news! No matter how scary it might be to most people, you CAN get life insurance if you’re a skydiver. Let’s cover the main points and then dive into(no pun intended) detail of getting life insurance as a skydiver.
In summary, here is what you need to know about skydiving in regard to your coverage:
- You can get life insurance at standard, or even preferred rates in some cases.
- You will be charged a flat extra. This is an X amount of dollars added on to your monthly premium per every $1,000 of coverage.
- You should work with an independent agency familiar with all the companies that will insure this risk at the best rates.
Those are the 3 main things to take away when thinking of getting a policy. Now let’s get into the detail of what the flat extra is, what companies consider, and your best options.
What is the Flat Extra and How Does it Work?
The flat extra is a system created by the life insurance companies to rate up individuals who pose a bigger risk of death through a dangerous occupation, or hobby. The way it works is you will get charged a certain annual fee for every $1,000 of coverage. For example, let’s say you jump less than 50 times per year, you can expect a flat extra of $2.50 cents. So let’s say you want $500,000 worth of coverage and the quote for it is $30 a month. We add on a flat extra of $2.50 and this will jump your monthly premium to $134.
Now you can see how this creates a huge difference between average joe rates and skydivers. Here is a breakdown of a flat extra costs so that you can calculate based on your activity level.
Jumps per Year:
Over 100 = $7.50 – $8
More than 50 – $5.00
Less than 50 – $2.50 – $3.00
Overall that’s what you can expect if you skydive. This is given that all else is okay and you don’t participate in another risky activities.
What Will the Companies Look At?
Basically the companies will want to know how often you participate doing the activity and what grounds. Are you doing it on your own? With an instructor? Are you an instructor? Are you a stuntman? Are you a club member? And most importantly they will want to know how many jumps you perform per year. Each company will weigh the risk differently so it’s important to know which company to apply with(let us do this for you). As I mentioned most skydivers will get either a standard or preferred rate given all else is okay. But life insurance companies will also look into your health, family history, driving record and lifestyle to determine your rate. Given that all checks out you can expect standard or preferred rates in some cases, with the flat extra on top.
What if I Don’t Tell the Company
Aside from the fact that it’s unethical, it’s also not the very logical thing to do. Life insurance companies can find out more about us by digging through our records than what we sometimes can remember. If you “exclude” this information from your application then the life insurance company can claim fraud if you die as a result of your skydiving accident and your family will be left with nothing.
The best advice I can give, is to be honest with your agent about your health and activities so that they can put you with the right company. When shopping for life insurance as a skydiver you want to make sure your agent works with a lot of companies and asks you the qualifying questions necessary to place you with the right carrier at the best rate. If your agent fails to ask you questions regarding your activity than you know you’re working with an inexperienced agent and you need to go elsewhere. The good news is you’re at the right place so look no further.
What are My Options?
The best option in terms of coverage is getting an all inclusive, traditional life insurance coverage. However, at this point you may be thinking life insurance is a little costly for my hobby and you’re right. You do have a few options when it comes to driving cost down.
- Split the Cost – 1 option is to split the cost with a traditional coverage and one with a skydiving exclusion. For example, instead of getting a 1 million dollar policy, get a $500,000 traditional coverage, and a $500,000 dollar life insurance policy with skydiving exclusion. This way if you die due to your skydiving your family will still get $500,000, but if you die of any other cause, they will get the entire million.
- Get an Accidental Policy – although I never recommend these as a life insurance replacement, you may get this as another option to split the cost. You can get one exclusion coverage, and one accidental policy to cover your skydiving. The accidental policy will not payout if you die of any other cause other than an accident.
Beware**
Make sure that your accidental policy covers skydiving and doesn’t have an exclusion. This also can be a problem avoided by working with a good, consumer first, independent life insurance agency(InsureChance)
Getting the Best Rate
When dealing with a high risk situation and attaining life insurance coverage the most important thing to do is not guess and let an experienced agent do all the necessary work for you. I mention this in every high risk case and that’s the fact that the lowest rate on the quoter is not the lowest rate for you. So let us do all the work for you on saving you money and getting you approved. We represent over 60 companies and have covered many skydivers over the years. Feel free to call us at 888-492-1967 with any questions or chat us below if it’s not too late. Welcome to InsureChance!
Skydiving Fun Facts
- According to the parachute association there have been only 24 fatal skydiving accidents in the U.S out of 3.2 million jumps. That’s .0075 fatalities per thousand jumps.
- The oldest person to skydive was 100 years old.
- The youngest was 4!
- Skydiving is statistically safer than driving a car!
- Someone named “Jonas” got a tattoo done while skydiving.
- The world record for highest skydive is 135,890 feet above the Earth.
