What Is BMI?
November 1st, 2006
We hear a lot in the press about BMI but what is it exactly and why is it important when trying to buy life insurance? BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is the ratio of an individual’s height to their weight.
At Torquil Clark Life Insurance we have specialist understanding of how BMI can affect your ability to get life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection cover. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Put simply the taller and thinner you are the lower your BMI ratio will be. To calculate your BMI divide your weight in kilograms by your height in metres – and divide by your height again.
Alternatively use the online calculator at http://www.bmi-calculator.net/
Here is what the results mean:
- BMI less than 18.5 means that you’re underweight.
- BMI between 18.5 and 25 means that you’re at a healthy weight.
- BMI between 25 and 30 means that you’re overweight.
- BMI between 30 and 35 means that you’re obese.
However please remember that this is only one possible way of measuring your weight. If you have any specific concerns you should visit your GP.
BMI is important because insurance companies need to know how healthy you are now to then be able to predict how healthy you will be in the future and decide if they want to insure you and how much to charge you for your cover. Few argue that if you are overweight you have an increased risk of developing serious medical conditions in the future, however being underweight also poses health risks. Therefore if you have an unusually high or low BMI you should expect to be asked to pay a higher premium for your life insurance cover, or you may even be declined cover altogether.
Of course this is further complicated if you have other conditions as well, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or if you are a smoker.
Remember if you have any questions please get in touch with us. Our expert team can help make sure you have the best value cover even if you have medical issues.
Author: Jason King
November 1st, 2006
Category: Life Insurance.
