Life Insurance for Frequent Flyers

Guest Post by Richard Reich, Los Angeles, CA

If you have ever applied for life insurance, you are probably familiar with the questions the insurance company asks on the application.  Most questions pertain to your general health and lifestyle.  The insurance company wants to know what kind of risk your health and lifestyle presents to them so they can charge you accordingly.  If you smoke or are overweight, you will pay more premium than a “normal” weight non-smoker.  Likewise, if your family history includes heart disease or cancer, you will probably pay more premium than someone with no family history,

But, were you aware that “frequent flyers” to foreign countries will sometimes pay a higher premium than those less-traveled.  If you travel to some countries, you might not even be eligible for life insurance with most companies.

When applying for life insurance, the insurance company will want to know where you travel and how often.   They especially want to know if your travel plans include countries on the U.S. State Departments Warning list (To see a list of travel warnings, visit the U.S. Department  of State.  If your plans include some of these countries, insurance companies are likely to charge a higher premium, decline coverage or offer it with an exclusion for this travel.  Some life insurance companies are more liberal when it comes to covering foreign travel, so if you fall into this category, your life insurance agent should know the best companies to apply with.

If you already have a life insurance policy, most life insurance companies will cover foreign travel as long as it was not planned or disclosed on the application.  However, under the two-year contestability rule, an insurance company can deny a claim if they can prove non-disclosure of a known future trip.  If you have a policy, take a good look at it before your next trip to make sure your policy will cover you.

About the Author
Richard Reich is President of Intramark Insurance Services, Inc.  Intramark provides life and disability insurance via their websites www.lifeinsure.com and www.protectyourincome.com.