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Purchasing life insurance while participating in a dangerous sport is not difficult and in many cases may not even cost more at all
*Applying is a simple straightforward process that can be done right over the phone. Using a life insurance carrier that is liberal with hazardous sports can make all the difference in your final rates
Most people never consider how dangerous sports could effect them down the road until they go to apply for life insurance
Did you ever stop to think that your favorite sport might effect the cost of your new life insurance premiums? There are a number of sports and hobbies that could play an important factor in receiving the best rates. This article will cover the most dangerous sports that could cause you to pay more than you expected for life insurance. Some of these sports will surprise you.
All the best life insurance companies carefully weight the risk factor of an applicants sports and hobbies. A large number of these sports like tennis, golf and softball are usually harmless and never effect premiums.
Some dangerous sports can effect your rates
Some popular sports will play a key part when trying to secure the best life insurance rates. Sometimes the applicant knows this going into the application and some applicants get the sticker shock of their life. Let’s take a look at THE most dangerous sports that could cost you additional premium dollars. Keep in mind that using the most applicable insurer is crucial when applying.
Base Jumping
There is no question about it, base jumping is known as one of the most dangerous sports (period). B.A.S.E jumping, is a form of parachuting where the participant jumps off a fixed type structure or rocky cliff. The word BASE is actually an acronym. It stands for the four main categories of fixed objects from which the base jumper can jump off.
Here are the common fixed objects to jump from
The most common fixed object are buildings, antennas, spans, and the earth itself such as a cliff. Will this bizarre sport cost the insurance applicant more money? You bet it will, no question about it. This is a seriously dangerous sport with a considerable history of deaths.
For your information BASE jumping is know as one of the most dangerous recreational activities in the entire world. There is a fatality and injury rate of 44 times as high as Skydiving from an airplane. The reports show as of October 15th 2017, the base jumping fatality list recorded over 330 deaths for base jumping since 1981 (ouch). BASE jumping is known as one of the most dangerous sports. It will have an impact on your rates.
Scuba Diving
Scuba diving has always been classified by the insurance industry as a dangerous sport. Cave diving is a specialized form of scuba diving where the divers explore the deep insides of underwater caves. The main dangers in cave diving are either getting lost or becoming trapped by the hazardous interior of the cave. If the caves are over 200 feet down, the danger can be extremely high which can further increase rates.
Many other divers have ran out of air and could not find the exit of the cave before they ran out of air and suffocated. Also keep in mind that sharks also lurk in these caves becoming another lethal threat. On an average of 3 cave divers perish while cave diving each year. I personally love Scuba Diving but I never graduated into cave diving because of the dangers. Scuba diving falls into the category of one of the most dangerous sports.
Sky Diving
Skydiving has been around for many years and it is growing in popularity each year. Even though there are major
improvements of parachute designs, the sport can still be fatal. Regardless of who packs a chute or what brand the parachute is. There is always the possibility of the parachute failing to open and the Skydiver falling to the ground.
When several divers are together, they increase the chance of the parachutes getting tangled. The year 2014 had a total of 18 deaths from skydiving. Having an average of 24 deaths per year make Skydiving is one of the most dangerous sports also.
Bull Riding
Bull riding is a version of a rodeo sport that requires the rider to stay mounted on back of a bull for as long as humanly possible. All this time the huge bull is doing everything to flip the cowboy off his back. Just the simple idea of climbing onto the back of a 2000 lb. bull is incredible to say the least. The rider is nothing less than a rag doll when compared to the incredible strength of the bull. It known as one of the most dangerous sports in the world.
Many bull riders have been permanently paralyzed as a result of bull riding accidents.
Head, face and neck injuries are very common with damage to the neck, head and face besides concussions accounting for most of the injuries. An experienced bull rider named Lane Frost was gored by a bull in 1989 and his heart was punctured by the horn. Nowadays protective vests are used similar to bullet proof vests in an effort to reduced these serious and fatal injuries.
The U.S. professional rodeo circuit averages two deaths per year. Many more bull riders suffer from serious spinal cord and brain injuries every year. These statistics are from the World Health Organization’s Helmet Initiative Organization records on file.
Motorsports Racing
The Motorsports Racing participants have their fair share of severe injuries and deaths also. Drag Racing especially in
the classes using nitro methane and alcohol have the highest statistics. Keep in mind that these cars travel the quarter mile in well over 300 miles per hour. When something goes wrong at that speed, it will definitely be serious and possibly fatal.
Boat Racing can also be very dangerous and in most cases worse than the race cars. Remember that there is no such things as brakes on a boat.
Motorcycle Racing on circle tracks and drag racing can be very dangerous because of the little protection for the riders body. The ever popular sport of NASCAR Racing has more injuries and deaths than the others racing sports combined.
Ice Climbing
Naturally everyone has heard of rock climbing, but what in the world is ice limbing? If you think it is climbing structures of ice, you are right. ice climbers climb everything from frozen waterfalls to rocky slabs and cliffs covered with heavy deposits of slippery ice. Normally this is much more dangerous than simple rock climbing is. There are usually over 20 reported deaths each year in the United States and Canada from ice climbing.
The sport of ice climbing has all the dangerous of rock climbing but to a much more advanced degree. Life insurance companies are extremely cautious when an ice climber applies for life insurance. This sport will definitely trigger an increase in rates and life insurance premiums.
Hang Gliding
The exciting sport of hang gliding can be very dangerous at times because of a number of variables. Hang gliding is a form of a flying
sport. The pilot flies a small and light, foot launched aircraft with no motor whatsoever. Most modern hang gliders are made of aluminum materials with a cloth sail that forms a wing. The pilot is then attached to the device with a harness. the pilot controls the aircraft by shifting his or her weight.
The biggest threat is simply crashing to the ground or landing in a body of water and drowning. Hang gliders can also fall victim to wind current sending them into the sides of buildings or mountains.
Hot Air Ballooning
A hot air balloon is called a “lighter than air” type of aircraft. It basically consists of a big balloon called an envelope. This balloon contains a large mass of hot air. The flyers are suspended in what they call a gondola which is usually made of a wicker material in a form of a basket.
The hot air is created by a propane powered torch. The heated air inside the balloon makes it very buoyant because it has a lower density than the air outside the balloon. The dangers are strong air currents pushing balloons off their course into a structure such as electric lines or buildings.
The balloon can also lose its heating devices and return to the ground in a dangerous are such as a highway or body of water.
If you have a dangerous sport and you are planning on purchasing life insurance, here is what you need to do
Run our quote engine on the right to give you and idea of what choices in life insurance companies you have. You can see what the up to date rates are for your age, face amount and term period. If you need help deciding what face amount to choose, use our websites face amount calculator. Then give us a call and we can run a quick pre-screen to see what company will offer you the best life insurance rates. If you have any medical conditions we can include them on the medical pre-screen so there are no surprises if you decide to apply. Many of our applicants receive preferred rates even though they are active in a dangerous sport.
Our final word
If any of this sounds confusing, just remember it’s not. Especially when you have an experienced independent insurance agent helping you every step of the way. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call us. We can be reached by telephone toll-free by calling 800-897-5699 7 days a week.
All the best,
Jack Venturi