This not only concerns the UK Government, who have just announced a concerted campaign to tackle the problem via GP’s, but also the life insurance industry.

The problem is that many people are still sensitive about their weight. Sensitive to the extent that they’ll convince themselves that they’re sticking to a diet when they are patently not. The loss of a pound or two occasions celebration, whereas the same two pounds going back the next day remains unannounced. Ring any bells for you?

Well normally, a porky or two about your true weight doesn’t harm anyone – other than perhaps yourself. But now life insurance companies are having to take a much closer interest. They suspect that lots of people are telling lies about their weight on their life insurance applications.

Consequently, Scottish Provident, one of Britain’s biggest life insurers, is tightening up its application procedures. Now, as well as asking applicants how much they weigh, they’ll be asking when they last weighed themselves. It’s an attempt to encourage applicants to answer more accurately rather than pluck a figure out of thin air or being economical with the truth.

A spokesman for the insurer said, We know that people normally understate their weight, mainly because they are in denial about the subject, although there are also some people who will lie just to get cheaper premiums.

The British Medical Association classifies someone as obsess if their Body Mass Index (BMI) exceeds 24 but most insurance companies are now using 30 as their obesity definition. Above that figure and you’ll find that they’ll load your premium and even ask to have a medical examination. Anyone who is overweight could easily see their life or critical illness insurance premium loaded by up to 50% – and extreme cases, cover will be refused.

So, if you want to know your BMI, take your height in meters and multiply it by itself. Then take the result and divide it by your weight in kilograms. The result is your Body Mass Index.

Whilst BMI has become the accepted method of assessing someone’s weight, it does have limitations as it doesn’t discriminate whether the weight is being carried in fat or muscle. And a study of 33,000 adults reported recently in The Lancet, concluded that the medical profession’s over 24 BMI obesity definition could be raised to over 25 without harming health. That’s the equivalent of adding an extra half stone. Their research also found that only adults with BMI’s in excess of 35 suffered a pronounced lowering in life expectancy.

But in accepting a BMI level of 30, the life insurance industry has taken a cautious mid position. Well, if it was your money at risk, wouldn’t you?

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Overweight people are in the firing line again. Life insurance companies are increasing premiums up to four fold for fat people. They’ve always charged more for those of us who over-eat, but during the last year the penalties have got worse.

In moves to tighten the belts further, the life insurers are lowering the weight limits they use to categorise people. This tougher move means that those who are merely overweight and would have previously qualified for a standard premium, are now penalised with higher premiums and the premium rapidly rises the more overweight they believe you are.

Height and weight are just two of the questions you have to answer when you apply for life insurance. From them, the life company calculates your Body Mass Index and if that exceeds the limits they define as acceptable, they might ask for a doctor’s report. In bigger cases they might ask you to have a medical examination. If this confirms that your weight is of concern, then you can expect your premium to be loaded by at least 50% and as much as 400% if you’re really obese. Recent research shows that around 25% of applicants will experience problems getting life cover due to their weight. In extreme cases the insurer will even refuse the application.

In an acknowledgement of normal middle age spread, the insurance companies do take your age into account when deciding your premium. They accept that people naturally tend to put weight on as they age. If you’re young and overweight, however, they’ll certainly hit you hard. So overweight and 38 will be hit much harder than overweight and 58.

For example, a non smoking healthy man aged 35 asking for 150,000 level cover over 25 years will currently be quoted 18.77 by Scottish Provident but this could easily jump to 35 if he is overweight and up to 47 if he’s obese.

And obesity is certainly a growing problem. Over the last 20 years obesity in adults has rocketed with more than 60% of men and 50% of women being judged as overweight or obese. And signs are that the problem won’t improve. In children aged between 2 and 15, 28% of girls and 22% of boys are overweight.

How do you rate on the Body Mass Index?

Calculate your own BMI.

Note your weight in pounds and multiply it by 703.

Divide the result by your height measured in inches

Again divide the resulting number by your height in inches

The result is your BMI

The typical insurance company considers a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 to as normal. Above 25 classifies you as overweight. Over 30 and you’re obese.

To give you more of a fix on what this means for you, here are the BMI’s for twelve famous people:

Under weight

Paula Radcliffe Marathon Runner – 18.0

Victoria Beckham Footballers Wife – 17.0

Jennifer Aniston Actress – 17.5

Normal weight

Alan Shearer Newcastle Footballer – 24.4

Davina McCall TV Presenter – 20.8

Cilla Black Presenter – 20.7

Overweight

Russell Crowe Hollywood Actor – 25.6

Ann Widdecombe MP – 25.1

Charlie Dimmock Gardening Presenter – 26.0

Obese

Norman Schwarzkopf US General – 30.5

Michelle McManus Presenter – 34.4

Dawn French Comedienne – 43.8

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The problem with visiting the doctor is that you will never know how much the whole service costs until after the treatment and you are presented with the bill. This unknown quantity with medical costs causes many people to shy away from paying the doctor a visit even when they should be getting treatment or at least a check up.

Therefore, one of the greatest assistances to your health could be getting some good medical insurance. Medical insurance can improve your health not just because it will pay out for expensive treatment in the case of a medical disaster or accident, but because it will make you more likely to visit the doctor for routine treatments and check ups. These are things that all medical professionals will advise you against postponing.

Visit the doctor does not have to be something you dread if you have proper medical coverage. Being secure in the knowledge that you and your families health costs are provided for, you can enjoy life more fully and when illness or accidents do occur, you will have one less thing to worry about and can concentrate all your energy and attention on getting well yourself of helping your family member to make a full and speedy recovery.

Medical research is starting to show a correlation between state of mind and recovery rates from illness. If you are happy and relaxed, you are far more likely to make a full recovery from illness, and the recovery is going to take less time, this means that if you can avoid having to worry about your medical bills because you have adequate insurance, your recovery will be helped, and this is before any account is taken of the better treatments and medicines that you will have access to as an insured patient.

These days, medical insurance is available from a variety of insurers at very competitive rates. You can ensure world class, state of the art treatment for you and your family with private medical insurance that will give you access to the services and treatments you need, when you need them, without the same problems of waiting lists and shortages of staff and funding that the public sector might be experiencing.

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Life insurance products where intensive medical questioning and / or a medical examination is required effectively penalise you for pre-existing medical conditions, pushing up the cost of life cover. Taking a medical examination may also prove stressful, especially for the elderly who are looking for life insurance coverage later on in life.

Increasingly though, life insurance companies are offering life insurance products where no medical is required. What’s more some life companies even guarantee acceptance before you apply!

What is no medical life insurance?
No medical life insurance, to use a well-known phrase, does exactly what it says on the tin! It is a life insurance product where no medical examination is required. You may not even have to answer medical questions and yet still be guaranteed acceptance for life insurance. No medical life insurance is open to people of all ages, so whether you’re 20 or 65, no medical life insurance can give you the peace of mind that your loved ones will be financially secure in the event of your death during the term of the life insurance policy.

You may be questioning the ethics of such a life insurance scheme at this point? If you are don’t worry! No medical life insurance is all above board, and is in fact offered by some of the most well-known insurance companies in the UK. Even supermarkets like Tesco for instance now have a no medical insurance policy available for the over 60s.

The premiums on life insurance where no medical is required are competitive too. Life cover can be acquired for as little as 7 per month, with some life companies guaranteeing that the insurance premiums on no medical policies will not rise through the life of the policy. Of course, how much you pay into the life insurance policy each month will affect the final life insurance total available upon death. Generally, there are no issues involved with increasing the life insurance premiums later on of your own accord should you wish to do so.

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Life insurance products where intensive medical questioning and / or a medical examination is required effectively penalise you for pre-existing medical conditions, pushing up the cost of life cover. Taking a medical examination may also prove stressful, especially for the elderly who are looking for life insurance coverage later on in life.

Increasingly though, life insurance companies are offering life insurance products where no medical is required. What’s more some life companies even guarantee acceptance before you apply!

What is no medical life insurance?
No medical life insurance, to use a well-known phrase, does exactly what it says on the tin! It is a life insurance product where no medical examination is required. You may not even have to answer medical questions and yet still be guaranteed acceptance for life insurance. No medical life insurance is open to people of all ages, so whether you’re 20 or 65, no medical life insurance can give you the peace of mind that your loved ones will be financially secure in the event of your death during the term of the life insurance policy.

You may be questioning the ethics of such a life insurance scheme at this point? If you are don’t worry! No medical life insurance is all above board, and is in fact offered by some of the most well-known insurance companies in the UK. Even supermarkets like Tesco for instance now have a no medical insurance policy available for the over 60s.

The premiums on life insurance where no medical is required are competitive too. Life cover can be acquired for as little as 7 per month, with some life companies guaranteeing that the insurance premiums on no medical policies will not rise through the life of the policy. Of course, how much you pay into the life insurance policy each month will affect the final life insurance total available upon death. Generally, there are no issues involved with increasing the life insurance premiums later on of your own accord should you wish to do so.

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If painless and easy is your goal then it behooves you to shop for the largest face amount of life insurance that you can purchase without a physical exam. The medical insurance bureau is used by almost all life insurance companies to investigate the medical background of all of its applicants. The MIB may have medical information on an applicant that may eventually require a medical examination or a rejection of the application. Do not seek a non-medical insurance policy to hide a pre-existing condition. A future claim may be denied because of misrepresentation on the application.

Try the marketplace and research the non-medical limits. If you are in good health and have no pre-existing condition then a life insurance purchase without an exam is a definite time saver and will make life easy for you and the insurance company. Make sure that you divulge all of your medical history on the application as well as your primary care physician. Annual physical exams and regular medical check ups are viewed as a positive by life insurance underwriters. There you have it. You have enough information to implement a painless and easy strategy for your next term life insurance purchase.

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