scottk Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I recently went through the process of replacing my life insurance policy and was surprised to discover that there was a $5 annual climbing surcharge for every $1,000 of coverage (so a $100,000 policy would have a $500 surcharge). This was on top of the regular premium just based on my health and other lifestyle considerations. They assigned this surcharge based on a detailed questionnaire regarding my climbing activities. My climbing activities are fairly moderate (easy to moderate glacier climbs and easy rock climbing). About 4-5 major climbs per year and another 10 easy scrambles/hikes per year (i.e., trips to Muir). If you compare the regular premium with the climbing surcharge, it would appear that the insurance companies believe that my chance of dieing while climbing is less than 1 in 200 (per year) compared with less than 1 in 750 (per year) from all other causes combined. I'm interested in any thoughts/suggestions regarding options for less expensive insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadug Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Check out WA triple AAA. When I signed up last year they had no question about climbing at all. The main stipulation is that you could not do any of your sports as a "Professional." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I recently went through the process of replacing my life insurance policy and was surprised to discover that there was a $5 annual climbing surcharge for every $1,000 of coverage (so a $100,000 policy would have a $500 surcharge). This was on top of the regular premium just based on my health and other lifestyle considerations. They assigned this surcharge based on a detailed questionnaire regarding my climbing activities. My climbing activities are fairly moderate (easy to moderate glacier climbs and easy rock climbing). About 4-5 major climbs per year and another 10 easy scrambles/hikes per year (i.e., trips to Muir). If you compare the regular premium with the climbing surcharge, it would appear that the insurance companies believe that my chance of dieing while climbing is less than 1 in 200 (per year) compared with less than 1 in 750 (per year) from all other causes combined. I'm interested in any thoughts/suggestions regarding options for less expensive insurance. In the original quote, my quote for $750K term life went up from $70 to $220 a month based on my climbing....roughly half the premium you are talking about, but a sizable amount nonetheless. I ended up getting it back down to only a slight premium by the time the policy was issued, and while I can't finger exactly what it was, here's what I did. 1) Explained that my climbing frequency was going to drop relative to past years due to fatherhood - which was true. 2) Took advantage of the addition comments section to write a short essay on my conservative climbing philosophy - no big mountains, climbing in my home range so highly selective with respect to weather, etc. Some companies are more sophisticated with respect to their profiling of climbers as well, so do try other companies. There's also a guy named Steve Kobrin that specializes in high risk policies. He gave me a pretty competitive quote, but I was ultimately able to beat it by sticking with my current insurer and "measuring my words". Feel free to PM me if you want more ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I think there's been a few discussions pertaining to this topic over the years, so plugging in "Life Insurance" into the search bar will probably dredge up some useful information. I suspect that it's probably also been discussed in some depth over at rockclimbing.com, so it might be worth searching over there as well. If you find anything useful in your dredging of the archives, please post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 JayB's right. Here's one from a year ago... Here's one about disability insurance, if you find yourself interested in that at some point... You might wanna check out that Steve Kobrin guy. He's mentioned in this thread (by ericb) and in the first thread to which I linked (by RichardKorry). Steve Kobrin Amazing what 15 minutes will net you if you set your mind to it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 More... http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=1&Number=635595&Searchpage=2&Main=47959&Words=Life+Insurance&topic=0&Search=true#Post635595 http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/387608/fpart/1 http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/311073/site_id/1#import http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/164558/site_id/1#import http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/23880/site_id/1#import Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Clearly, JayB, you have more time on yours hands than I. All of these threads should keep scottk busy for a while. I must go now. My work here is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Martin Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I have life insurance that covers climbing and it seems reasonable. It breaks down something like this: Approximately $65 per month for $100,000, $75 per month for $125,000 and so on... I had to fill out a form with all kinds of crazy questions about my climbing. For awhile I thought they weren't going to cover me -- I'm a guide and log over 220 climbing days a year for work -- because my risk exposure was really high... If those rates seem reasonable to you, pm me and I'll give you the details. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottk Posted November 28, 2007 Author Share Posted November 28, 2007 Thanks for all the suggestions. I should have known to search past posts. If I find out anything new I make sure to post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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