There are many different aspects of your health and habits that are taken into consideration when you have a health insurance policy underwritten. These factors work together to create the general risk that you life presents to the insurance company. It is not until all these factors are considered that your insurer can determine whether or not to issue your policy and what premiums to charge. Here are some of the main factors that health insurance underwriters consider when reviewing your health insurance application for approval.

Your medications: The medications you take give a tremendous insight not only on the prior events of your health history, but also on what your doctor thinks might be in the future. For instance, you might not have had a heart attack yet but if your doctor has you on a cholesterol medication, then it is likely that he or she thinks you may be at risk for one in the future. That indicates to a health insurance underwriter that you could be a risky bet.

Your actual health history: The events that comprise your health history give an insight not only into what your health future might hold but also in how you treat and respect yourself. For instance, Type 2 diabetes is often caused by obesity and poor eating choices. If you have Type 2 diabetes then it is unlikely that you eat well or exercise, which puts you at risk for a whole host of additional health problems.

Your family history: DNA ruins a lot of things health wise. If heart disease runs in your family then you are much more likely to suffer from it eventually. The same can be said for cancer, obesity, diabetes and certain mental illnesses. Knowing that someone in your family has suffered with these issues could change how a health insurance underwriter views your application for coverage-even if you are in perfect health.

Your weight and height: Your weight and height indicate how well-proportioned you are. Someone who weighs 300 pounds and is 5′3″ is much more likely to be considered obese than someone who is 6′5″ and weighs the same.

Smoking status: If you are a smoker-even an occasional lighter upper-then you are putting your body at risk for cancer, lung disease, emphysema and more. This will not be looked upon favorably by the underwriters reviewing your health insurance application.

Choosing a deductible for your auto insurance quote might seem like an easy task, but it is actually a very big decision that should not be taken lightly-especially since your deductible has a big effect on the premium you are charged and because you must have enough money in the bank to cover it, should you have an insurable incident.

A deductible is the amount of money that you need to pay out of pocket toward damages on your vehicle if you suffer an insurable event like an accident or car theft. Deductibles are only paid when you have damage that is covered by your insurance policy-otherwise, all damages will come out of your pocket or that of the person responsible for causing the accident.

Because a deductible must be paid out of your own, personal funds, it is important that you choose a deductible that you can actually afford to pay. Otherwise, you might end up with a deductible that hurts your savings, results in additional debt and prevents you from being able to get your car in working order. Without a car in working order you could suffer other financial difficulties such as the loss of a job. Click Here to Read More »

There once was a time when flipping a house was no big deal. You simply bought the second property, took a few months to redo the cosmetic damage and create the home of someone’s dreams, put it on the market for way more than you paid for it and more than you paid to fix it up, and then it sold. No muss, no fuss and, for some property flippers, no need for homeowners insurance.

But times have changed and real estate in the U.S. is not selling as it once did. While the home buying credits were in full force in early 2010, the real estate market picked up a bit, but now we are back to our normal lows. Not only that, but property values have fallen as well so you can no longer sell properties for as much money as you once could.

That means that many flippers have turned into the owners of multiple homes that they are forced to turn into rental properties so that they have some income to cover carrying costs. But now that they will own the secondary properties they purchased for years and years, they definitely need to consider some insurance. Click Here to Read More »

When your auto insurance policy is underwritten, your insurance underwriter attempts to figure out whether or not you should be approved for the policy, what you should be charged and if there should be any special amendments to your policy. Many different factors and traits are considered during this process including:

Your motor vehicle report: Your motor vehicle report (MVR) is a report that shows your driving record. It shows all the tickets you’ve gotten for reckless driving, speeding, and not obeying general traffic laws. This report is extremely important in determining how risky you are to insure. If you have many tickets and incidents on the report that show you are not a responsible driver, then you are going to be expensive to insure because the auto insurance company is going to assume that your recklessness translates into expensive claims for anyone who insures you. The underwriters will then decide to charge you a higher premium than you might expect in order to offset the likelihood of claims.

Your age: The older you are, the more likely you are to be an experienced and responsible driver and the less expensive your premiums are likely to be-until you hit a certain age. Because as you start to get older, you again become more risky as a driver because you are less sharp witted, have worse eyesight and less hand-eye coordination. So whether you are too young, too old, or right in the middle, it will have an effect on your auto insurance underwriting and premiums.

Your gender: Unfortunately for the masculine set, male drivers (especially those who are young) are seen as riskier bets by insurers. Males are often considered to be risk takers and less responsible than their female counterparts. Click Here to Read More »