Premiums fatten on weight rules

MILLIONS of people are paying higher life insurance premiums because the industry has redrawn the rules on what is considered dangerously overweight.

The changes mean someone only slightly over a healthy weight could be paying 50% more for cover than those of a 'standard' weight.

Heavier people are being punished with five-fold increases in premiums or are being refused cover completely, threatening disastrous consequences for their families.

The insurance industry uses the Body Mass Index (BMI) system, which produces a figure using a calculation based on height and weight, to decide the appropriate premium for customers.

In the past, insurance firms did not impose higher premiums on customers until their BMI hit 33-35 and above. Now increases from 28-29 upwards. These changes mean that a man or woman who is 5ft 10in tall, weighs 14st 10lb and so has a BMI of 29.6, could expect to pay 50 per cent more. With a typical life policy costing £20 a month, that could mean an extra £10 a month - £120 a year.

Five years ago, customers would have to hit a BMI of 43-45 before they were required to pay a high premium or were refused cover. Now it is more likely to be 38-40.

Consequently, someone who is 5ft 10in tall, weighs 19st and so has a BMI of 38.23, would face paying four or five times the standard. That could take the monthly figure up from £20 to £100, which works out an extra £960 a year or £19,200 over 20 years.

Insurance brokers say Britain's obesity epidemic has triggered a rethink in the industry. The view is that fat people will hit profits because they are more likely to die young, which means any payouts on their policies will outstrip premium income. Some 60% of the adult British population is considered overweight or obese, a figure which is rising rapidly.

The higher premiums apply to life insurance linked to home loans, 'critical illness cover', which pays the bills if you are sick, and income protection, which pays out if you lose your job.

They also apply to 'family protection' policies, which pay a lump sump or income to a wife and children after the death of a breadwinner. Customers are more likely to be required to undergo a medical than in the past.

LifeSearch, an online insurance broker, said that two years ago one in five applicants would have been treated as 'non-standard'. Today more than two-thirds are quoted non-standard rates.

Lobby groups supporting large people condemned what they said was discrimination. Louise Diss, director of the Obesity Awareness and Solutions Trust said: 'By loading premiums, insurers are discriminating against a majority of the people. We need to sit down and ask what the hell is going on?'