Posted on 02/23/2008 7:39:57 AM PST by Stoat
A "fat tax" is to be imposed on the obese by life insurance firms, it emerged last night.
Around 50 per cent extra could be charged on new premiums - and the threshold at which the higher rate starts will be lowered.
The increased charge can be up to 400 per cent if you fall into other high risk categories, such as being a smoker or having previous medical conditions.
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For a 55-year-old man who is a healthy non-smoker with no weight problems, life insurance should cost about £1,000 a year for £150,000 of cover. If he were obese, the annual premium on a 25-year policy could cost an extra £500.
Britain is in an epidemic of obesity, which can lead to cancer, heart problems, liver disease and diabetes.
Nearly one in four adults and 16 per cent of children have weight problems that threaten their health.
More than a million prescriptions for obesity drugs were written by doctors last year, compared to just 127,000 in 1999.
Yesterday Britain's biggest life insurer, Legal & General, said 13 per cent of new applicants face paying the higher premiums - which start on anyone with a body mass index of 30.
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Overweight: 24 per cent of women in Britain are classified as obese
A BMI of 30 or more is now one of the most common reasons for the price hike. The threshold used to be nearer 40 but has been lowered as the full scale of the obesity crisis has been revealed.
Russ Whitworth, L&G's director of underwriting and claims, said: "Most people understand that poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to health problems but they might not realise that being significantly overweight would also make their life insurance more expensive.
"Although it is not an exact science, we find that BMI is the best indicator of the risk of being overweight, so it pays to stay in shape."
One problem is that judging people by their BMI could discriminate against the superfit - as rugby players or athletes often have a high weight-to-height ratio by building up the muscles required for their sport.
Other insurers also confirmed last night that they charge fat people at least 50 per cent extra.
At Norwich Union, the second largest life insurer, premiums start rising once the BMI hits 35.
Friends Provident, the third largest insurer, begins "loading" premiums when BMI is over 33.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said: "If you are obese, you are at greater risk of contracting certain diseases. It is just the same as increasing the premium for a smoker or somebody with previous medical conditions."
All life insurance applicants are asked for endless details, including their exact height and weight.
Lying is a false economy, because the insurer may not pay of women in Britain are classified as obese out on a claim.
The Financial Ombudsman Service, which settles disputes between customers and companies, says it regularly has to reject complaints for this reason.
In one recent case, a 37-year-old man told his insurer he was 6ft and weighed 16st. Just five months later, he died from a blood clot - but the claim was rejected after discovering he was actually 5ft 9in and 21st.
If it had know the truth, the insurer said it would have increased his premium by 275 per cent.
The Financial Ombudsman concluded: "The disparity between his actual weight and height and the information he gave on the form was so great that it was difficult to accept that he had been unaware of it."
In September, the insurance giant Prudential started offering free gym membership and a 2.25 per cent discount if you go to the gym at least twice a week.
Matt Morris, a policy adviser at Life Search, a specialist financial adviser, said: "In an ideal world, insurers want the healthier clients. There is an element of cherry picking. They don't want the burden of the heavier clients."
Official figures revealed this week that a quarter of children are overweight before they have even started school. By secondary school entry of 11, the figures rises to one in three.
stone - definition of stone by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
pl. stone Abbr. st. A unit of weight in Great Britain, 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).
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Here's a convenient BMI calculator for us Yanks...just type in your height and weight and press "compute BMI"
I would assume they always factor weight into their premiums. Along with smoking, blood pressure, pre-existing conditions, etc.
Seems perfectly reasonable to me for a PRIVATE business to base their rates on risk. My problem is when government gets involved.
Mine too, and we may be looking toward exactly that scenario if HillaryCare or Hussein-ObamaCare gets shoved down our throats.
Perfectly reasonable to me, too, for a business to base their rates on risk.
Anyone heard what they’ll now be charging admitted gays for life insurance?
The way the government usually gets involved in situations like this is to require that the insurance company charge the same rates for everyone, and to sue companies like McDonalds and Frito-Lay.
Try factoring risks like same sex sodomy or frequent anonymous sexual encounters while using drugs and no condoms. The Lavender Mafia will tell you that is forbidden.
and what about smokers and homosexuals, anorexics, people who engage in sex with multiple partners? Does their lifestyle pose no additional risk?
There’s all kinds of things they could factor into their rates. Simple things like working the night shift vs working 8 to 5 make a difference. THen there is race and gender and religion and ethnicity.
Indeed. I applied for insurance through healthinsurance.org and thought I had a really good premium for an excellent plan with great coverage.
Well, I get my brochure and info and they are charging me like 20 bucks more. I was told that I rated as obese for being 217 lbs (I’m no bodybuilder but I put on a significant amount of muscle and would appear to be in relatively good shape to any casual inspection.) The rep had no ability to change anything and since then I’ve not had insurance because I’m not paying extra money because I’m in BETTER shape and stronger than I was before.
By BMI standards the entire NFL, damn near, is obese or overweight. Stupid. I believe even Darrell Green would have qualified at 5-8 for being overweight (185 lbs)
Imagine that. A Fag tax.
It SEEMS reasonable but as I stated to neodad in my reply to him, the BMI measurement without a visual confirmation is absolutely stupid to use as a metric for obesity.
I’m 220 lbs and even if I lost weight and looked ripped, I’d still be above 200 lbs and 5-10 or so. By that standard I’d be overweight or even obese if I was still around 208, I think.
Should someone built like a linebacker or with denser bones (my mom’s side of the family has very dense bones and I believe I was heavier even when I was VERY skinny because of that) be charged more even if they’re LESS fat than people who weigh less?
They should either require someone to get a body fat measurement or allow agents to do a visual verification in case they’re dealing with Lou Ferigno, not Fat Lou from the delicatessan.
Wait until they tax, er assess you more for having a gun in the home.
If you reread the article you will see that smokers already ar charged more, so please do not put them in the same category as homosexuals or those who are promiscuous who are not included.
Oh, no! I’m 18.8. I don’t wanna be average, I wanna be thin. I gotta lose 4 lbs to be under 18.5! Noooooooooooo!
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