Most people talk about progress in their careers as a metaphor for combat, but for you there is no need for metaphor, your profession IS combat. It’s no wonder that you would wonder how this particular occupation would affect you getting life insurance. So let’s discuss life insurance for professional fighters.
In summary, here is what you need to know about life insurance with your profession:
- You can get coverage at fairly typical rates.
- You will be charged a $5 flat extra by most companies. This is a surcharge per thousand dollars worth of coverage added on to your annual premium.
- If you’re a fighter at the championship level you will be taken into individual consideration by each company.
That’s the gist of life insurance for professional fighters. Given your profession, this isn’t a topic you want to navigate through yourself. A lot of details will go into securing the right type of coverage at the best rate with the company that will provide the most favorable results. The good news is you’re at the right place. At InsureChance we shop around with over 60 companies to get you the best policy on the market, at no extra cost to you for our service. Over the years we have insured many professional fighters and know exactly what to do. So if you’d like to get started, give us a call.
But if you insist on learning more, let’s get into the details of life insurance for a fighter.
Can Fighters Get Coverage?
Yes, fighters can get life insurance, but the type of rate you qualify for will depend on a few different factors. Life insurance companies will want to look in the type of combat sport you participate in, the frequency of fights, and your level of competition.
Type of Combat
The type of fighting you do will go into deciding your rate. Are you competing in grappling sports like jiu-jitsu, judo or wrestling? Or do you participate in hand to hand combat like kickboxing, cage fighting, or boxing? The companies are also going to want to know the level of competition and frequency of combat. Either way, being in a combat sport doesn’t mean you won’t qualify for a policy, it just means you will be charged a flat extra for participating in potentially dangerous sport. So whether you’re a mixed martial artist, or a professional boxer, you can expect a flat extra in the range of $5 per $1,000 of coverage.
How Does the Flat Extra Work?
So assuming you would get the $5 flat extra here is how it works. If you opt for a $500,000 life insurance policy, the flat extra would charge $5 for every $1,000 of coverage. This means that it will be an additional $2,500 on top of your annual premium. So if the annual premium for an average joe’s life insurance policy is $2,000 a year, make that average joe a fighter and the flat extra makes it jump to $4,500 a year.
Other Factors
Besides your professional details, the life insurance company underwriters will also look at the typical guidelines. These include your:
- Health
- Background History
- Driving Record
- Family History
- Lifestyle
- Build Ratio
You will also be required to take a medical exam and the life insurance company will review those results and take them into consideration as well. This should be a familiar occurrence for a fighter as it is very similar to a typical physical, which will also include a blood and urine sample. When it comes to this, there are two things that are important to note.
One of them is any supplement or performance enhancing use. Make sure to be honest with your agent before applying about any supplements or drugs you take. This can cause your levels to be elevated during the exam and the agent needs to know which company would view your intake of these substances most favorably. Make sure your agent asks you this during the pre qualifying process.
The second thing to note is your build. This will mostly apply to fighters in the heavier weight classes. For the most part, life insurance company build charts are black and white. Being overweight is usually associated with being a high health risk. The difference is, fighters are usually in tip top shape, but the excess muscle can make them seem overweight based on their height/weight ratio on paper. The fix to this is for your agent to include notes about your health and profession, as well as include the detail that your chest exceeds your waist. This will usually fix the overweight issue and qualify you for better rates.
Fighters on a Championship Level
Mostly what we discussed so far is for fighters that are starting out, or on the contender level. If you’re a championship level combatant, life insurance companies will look at your application under individual consideration. They will still use the same factors to weigh the risk but what you qualify for won’t be able to be predetermined until initiating the application process. At the championship level your need for life insurance will also be drastically different than the average fighter. You’d have to look into more complex policies to be customized to your specific needs and goals.
To help you with this you would need an experienced life insurance agency familiar with insuring fighters of this level. Most of the time a good place to start is by comparing quotes online. In this case however, each company will take different factors into consideration and will vary slightly on their rates qualifications. Basically the lowest rate on the quote engine will not be the lowest rate for you because each company will weigh the risk differently.
Good News
The good news is, you’re at the right place so you wont’t have to go on a quest to find a suitable life insurance agency. We can use one medical exam to shop around with all of our companies at no extra cost to you. So let us do all the work by giving us a call at 888-492-1967 or hit the chat button below if you have any questions. Welcome to InsureChance.
