Term Life Insurance Articles
How Being Deaf Affects Term Life Insurance
2010-08-26
Term life insurance is a simple, cost effective form of life insurance that provides death benefits for individuals for a specified amount of time, referred to in this case as a "term." Term life insurance is the budget-friendly option for individuals seeking life insurance for specified purposes. Standard term periods that are available usually include 5-year, 10-year, 20-year and 30-year periods. Policies are usually renewable, although premiums may increase with age. It is important to understand the basics of how term life insurance works overall, but especially when it comes to questions about how specific health limitations such as hearing loss or deafness can affect the ability to obtain and maintain deaf term life insurance.
Under normal circumstances, term life insurance is a quick and easy option for obtaining or beefing up life insurance in special situations, such as when having a child. However, term life insurance features adjustable premiums, which means that at any time, the insurance provider can adjust the premiums up or down based on its assessment of risk. This assessment of risk can relate to external circumstances such as environmental shifts, health trends, economic fluctuations and investment returns. However, the risk assessment can also be related to the individual's insurability according to his or her health risks. This is why it is so important to ask about how having an impairment such as deafness, can potentially impact premiums now and in the future. For individuals seeking deaf term life insurance who are simply hard of hearing, but who are projected to become deaf, this will be an especially relevant question.
While a term life insurance provider most likely will not deny coverage based on a pre-existing, non-lethal health condition such as being hard of hearing or deaf, some insurance providers may view that as an increased risk and may adjust premiums accordingly. This also underscores the importance of shopping around for the best rates and having a conversation with each insurance carrier about how risk is assessed and how deafness may potentially affect premiums.
It will also be important in the risk assessment process to provide accurate information to the term life insurance provider about what the particular diagnosis of deafness refers to and entails. Medically speaking, definitions of "deafness" can range from severe hearing loss to total deafness. It can also be related or unrelated to other, underlying medical issues. If a serious medical condition is the cause of the deafness, it may have an impact on term life insurance rates. On the other hand, if a hearing aid minimizes the hearing loss, this can also be an important asset in reducing the risk to obtaining term life insurance.
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Term life insurance is a simple, cost effective form of life insurance that provides death benefits for individuals for a specified amount of time, referred to in this case as a "term." Term life insurance is the budget-friendly option for individuals seeking life insurance for specified purposes. Standard term periods that are available usually include 5-year, 10-year, 20-year and 30-year periods. Policies are usually renewable, although premiums may increase with age. It is important to understand the basics of how term life insurance works overall, but especially when it comes to questions about how specific health limitations such as hearing loss or deafness can affect the ability to obtain and maintain deaf term life insurance.
Under normal circumstances, term life insurance is a quick and easy option for obtaining or beefing up life insurance in special situations, such as when having a child. However, term life insurance features adjustable premiums, which means that at any time, the insurance provider can adjust the premiums up or down based on its assessment of risk. This assessment of risk can relate to external circumstances such as environmental shifts, health trends, economic fluctuations and investment returns. However, the risk assessment can also be related to the individual's insurability according to his or her health risks. This is why it is so important to ask about how having an impairment such as deafness, can potentially impact premiums now and in the future. For individuals seeking deaf term life insurance who are simply hard of hearing, but who are projected to become deaf, this will be an especially relevant question.
While a term life insurance provider most likely will not deny coverage based on a pre-existing, non-lethal health condition such as being hard of hearing or deaf, some insurance providers may view that as an increased risk and may adjust premiums accordingly. This also underscores the importance of shopping around for the best rates and having a conversation with each insurance carrier about how risk is assessed and how deafness may potentially affect premiums.
It will also be important in the risk assessment process to provide accurate information to the term life insurance provider about what the particular diagnosis of deafness refers to and entails. Medically speaking, definitions of "deafness" can range from severe hearing loss to total deafness. It can also be related or unrelated to other, underlying medical issues. If a serious medical condition is the cause of the deafness, it may have an impact on term life insurance rates. On the other hand, if a hearing aid minimizes the hearing loss, this can also be an important asset in reducing the risk to obtaining term life insurance.
