I’m applying for disability insurance. The application asks whether I rock climb. If I answer yes, how can I figure out (ballpark) how much more I’ll pay?
Also, if I answered no, and later sustained an injury while rock climbing, how would the company distinguish between a fradulent response on the initial application versus an interest I developed after the policy was instated?
Call up the insurance company and ask them to give you a quote for the policy both ways. Or if they have an online system that gives quotes use that.
The actuarial formulas used by insurance companies vary so much by company that I doubt it is possible to calculate a good estimate on your own. Especially since basics like your current income, age, gender, etc can greatly affect things.
Nearly all insurance policies specify in their contract that if your life changes in a way that would affect your insurance rate, you must notify them immediatly and request a policy change. You would then be charged extra based upon this change. Failure to do so could be grounds to deny your claim.
In your specific example, if the rock climbing was intended as a one time excursion rather than a new hobby, then I’m not sure what happens. Lawyers might need to get involved. In any event honesty is probably the best policy.
(None of that was legal advice)
It doesn’t sound like any legal advice I’ve ever heard ;).
When I purchased a inexpensive “supplemental accident policy”, I was asked about rock climbing too. I responded yes. The cost didn’t change but the terms came back specifically excluding any injuries due to rock climbing. I don’t know if your disability insurance would work similarly.
Did they ask about other risky sports like sky-diving or hang-gliding? Or are they just seeing a lot of rock-climbing injuries now that it is more popular?
Thanks for the advice so far, everybody.
My application asked about pilot training, SCUBA diving, hanggliding, and skydiving, in addition to rock climbing.
No questions about motorcycle riding, though, begging the question as to whether motorcycling riding is less likely to cause permanent disability than SCUBA diving?
It would seem like they should just exclude it for everyone then.
I would not advise this if you are speaking to a phone rep. They would most likely notify an underwriter, who would wonder if you intended to give up rock climbing in order to bind the policy. The underwriter would decide that you most likely would not, and rate the policy accordingly. Asking for “scenario” type quotes is a big underwriting red flag (I’m an underwritng analyst).
That was my concern; what’s the best means to come by this info?
Yes. It was a lengthy list and I don’t remember any of them except the one I answered yes, rock climbing.
I thought so too. My guess is they take on a small risk with future first-timers to avoid having a long list of exclusions that might affect sales.
Heh. When I worked for a scuba diving certification agency, we had one hell of a time with insurance. The health policy had a little life on it as well (coffin money, IIRC, about $5-10,000 is all), but the company did not want to insure divers, let alone instructprs, and of course that covered half our staff!
On all my policies, it’s been skydiving, scuba diving, pilot, and lots of foreign travel to particular places.
There’s really no surefire way to get an exact quote without giving up all of your info. If the company allows you to do online quoting anonymously, that could be your best bet. Keep in mind that the less information asked for, the less accurate the quote will be.