Lifestyle could dictate your cover in future

A leading insurance provider is predicting that your lifestyle could begin to have an increasing impact on your protection premiums.

Traditionally, protection policies are priced based on a number of health questions, with the emphasis on determining the risk of death from health related factors such as diabetes, heart attack and cancer. However, with the most common cause of death in 20-30 year olds now a road accident, the emphasis is shifting.

Insurance provider Axa is predicting that in future, lifestyle questions such as how many points you have on your drivers licence may play a bigger role in determining how much you pay for your insurance premiums and which companies will cover you. The application process is also likely to become more specific to age groups and younger generations in particular will be judged on lifestyle choices rather than the overall health profile of the entire population.

Other factors such as your postcode, your occupation and your income may also become more important in the future. For Contractors, this may cause significant problems if providers see your occupation as a risk and as such seeking advice on which providers will be open to your application will become even more important.

Already our protection advisers can access a policy that discounts your premiums based on gym membership and how active you are and increasingly insurers are understanding that if they can influence and reward behaviours then the next result can be the archetypal win/win.

At Contractor Financials we specialise in providing Independent Financial Advice to Contractors and our protection team are experts at finding the right cover to suit your needs.

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