Life insurance for high BMI

What is BMI?

BMI, which stands for Body Mass Index, is a globally recognised method of measuring whether you are a healthy weight for your height.

It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared. But don’t worry if you prefer to weigh yourself in pounds and feet, or if maths isn't your strong point, as you can check whether you are a healthy weight using the NHS healthy weight calculator or similar online tools provided by some life insurance companies.

How do Body Mass Index scores work?

You can check whether you are underweight, a healthy weight, overweight or obese, typically using these BMI ranges:

• below 18.5 – underweight
• 18.5 to 24.9 – healthy weight
• 25 to 29.9 – overweight
• 30 to 39.9 – obesity
• 40 and over – severe obesity
  

However, other factors also come into play: for example, if you are of Asian, African-Caribbean, Black African, Chinese or Middle Eastern heritage, you will hit the overweight range more quickly – at the 23 to 27.4 range – while obesity is measured from 27.5.

This is because some health risk factors of being overweight are higher in these populations – for example, Asian people may be more prone to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

It is worth noting that older adults may benefit from carrying a bit more weight. People aged over 65 are considered a healthy weight even if they have a BMI between 25 and 27, which would be viewed as overweight in younger age groups.

Being slightly overweight may help protect older bones against osteoporosis, while being underweight can increase the risk of dying, dementia or weakened immunity in the over-65s age group.

Why does BMI matter to life insurance providers?

With years of research that insurers can refer to, BMI remains one of the primary measures they use to calculate the risk levels to your health when you apply for life insurance. A high body mass index increases the risk of developing certain illnesses in the future, including:

• heart disease,
• type 2 diabetes,
• stroke,
• certain cancers (bowel cancer, for example)
• joint and back problems.

This increased risk of health conditions linked to a high BMI can affect your life insurance premiums and your life insurance options.

Good to know: How accurate is BMI as a health indicator?

While BMI indicates whether you are a healthy weight, it is not the only factor that insurers will consider. Health professionals have questioned the accuracy of BMI as a measure of healthy weight because it doesn’t include body fat. To get a clearer picture, insurers may also ask for your waist measurement and dress or trouser size when arranging life insurance if you have a high BMI.

Recent research from the universities of Sheffield and Nottingham found that measuring the waist-to-height ratio was a more helpful indicator of visceral fat. They say that this can be useful in calculating the health risks of older people who may have a lower BMI because of loss of muscle, but may have more visceral fat around their abdomen. This fat surrounds vital organs, such as the liver and kidneys, which could present a health risk.

Can you get life insurance with a high BMI?

As your BMI is not the only eligibility criteria insurers will review, it is possible to get life insurance if you have a high BMI.

Insurers will consider other health factors and standard risks, including your age, medical history – for example, whether you have high blood pressure and cholesterol, are taking medications or have any past or planned surgery. They will also review lifestyle choices, such as smoking and alcohol consumption and whether you have a high-risk job or hobby.

Insurers will look at your family medical history to see if close family members have had illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke or dementia.

But you can typically still get life insurance at a standard rate if your BMI score is less than 30, so potentially in the overweight category, but you are otherwise fit and healthy.

What BMI limits do insurers typically have?

While insurers will offer life cover to applicants with a high BMI, there are limits on how high the BMI score can be. Typically, insurers will expect your BMI to be less than 40 – both Aviva and Legal & General set their life insurance BMI limits at 39, for example – so this limit is in the overweight or obese category rather than in the severely obese range (severe obesity or class 3 obesity is increasingly being used to describe this BMI group to reduce the stigma surrounding the use of morbid obesity).

It is worth shopping around for life insurance cover as some insurers will accept higher BMI limits. But keep in mind that older age groups with a BMI score of over 40 are more likely to be offered life cover because people tend to put on weight as they age. You may need a specialist insurer for these products, so consider using an insurance broker as they will have in-depth knowledge of which insurers to approach if you are in the severely obese BMI range.

How does a high BMI affect the cost of life insurance?

If you have a high BMI, insurers will charge you more and it could affect the level of cover they offer you. This is because, as mentioned earlier, BMI is a key factor insurers use to assess the risk of you developing certain illnesses, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

If you are overweight but your BMI is under 30 and you are otherwise healthy, it is possible to find affordable life insurance policies with standard rate premiums. But above a BMI of 30, you can expect insurers to apply a ‘loading’ to your premiums – this is an extra charge if there is a higher health risk. For example, according to Vitality’s rating parameters, its life insurance loading starts at 27.5% while Zurich’s initial extra charge is similar, starting at 25% of the standard premium for a BMI of 30.

Tips for buying a life insurance policy if you have a high BMI

It pays to do some strategic planning around buying life insurance whatever your BMI, but if you have a high BMI the tips below could make a more marked difference:

• Shop around for insurers that specialise in offering life insurance for customers who are overweight or in the obese category.
• Consider using a specialist broker who knows which insurers are more flexible in their underwriting or may have a higher maximum BMI limit to help you find the best life insurance for you.
• Adopt a healthier lifestyle – cutting back on alcohol, quitting smoking and being more active could all reduce your premiums.
• One pitfall of life insurance is leaving it too late: the younger you are, the lower your premiums will be, so take it out sooner rather than later.
• Take time to budget and calculate how much life insurance cover you need. You won’t want to pay higher premiums to insure a significantly higher sum than your beneficiaries will need.

• Compare the cost and pros and cons of buying over-50s life cover if you fall into this age group. It includes guaranteed acceptance without the need for medical checks, including BMI.
  

Can I get other protection policies if I have a high BMI?

How much a high BMI will influence insurers when it comes to other protection products will depend on the type of policy.

Critical illness cover, for example, is available to applicants with a high BMI, though generally of less than 40 and without other health issues. This will provide you with a lump sum if you are diagnosed with certain illnesses, which typically include stroke, heart attacks, cancer, multiple sclerosis, kidney or liver failure and organ transplants.

However, this is not necessarily the case if you would like the security of income protection insurance. With this type of insurance, insurers will pay a regular income if you are off sick from work due to ill health or injury. If you have a high BMI and are carrying excess weight, insurers will assess you to have a higher risk of developing weight-related conditions such as diabetes.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t take out income protection insurance, but some insurers may apply exclusions to the illnesses you can claim for if you have a high BMI. Others that agree to full cover will likely expect you to pay higher premiums; accept a lower income if you were ill; or stipulate that you’ll have to wait for longer before regular payments will kick in.

If you are looking to protect your income check out our 2026 guide to the best income protection insurance providers in the UK.

Can I get life insurance if I have a low BMI?

While having a high BMI is more widely known as a potential health risk, having a low BMI can pose its own problems for securing life insurance. A BMI of less than 18.5 is classified as underweight, and insurers may require a medical report from your GP to determine the reason behind your low weight.

If you have no health problems, and your weight is perhaps due to your age and light build, then you could be accepted for life insurance on standard premiums. But you could face higher premiums or be refused life insurance altogether if the low BMI is due to a pre-existing health condition or eating disorder. Being underweight can also lead to other health issues, such as malnutrition, dental problems and osteoporosis.

Can I ask my life insurer to review my premiums if I lose weight?

If you’ve bought life insurance with a high BMI and it’s costing more, it may well focus the mind on losing weight. But how flexible would your insurer be about reducing your premiums to reflect your healthier BMI?

This has become more complex since the popularity of weight-loss injections, such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. While users can experience significant weight loss, recent research published in the British Medical Journal has shown that people who come off these jabs can regain their weight four times more quickly than those who stop traditional dieting and exercise.

If you have lost weight and no longer have a high BMI, it’s worth asking your insurer for a premium review. Insurers that will consider this typically ask you to wait 12 months to prove that you can maintain your new weight. They may request a medical report from your GP for confirmation of your weight loss.

If your insurer doesn’t offer re-evaluations or you think the new life insurance premium is still too high, consider shopping around so you can compare quotes for a new policy. Now that you are a healthier weight, and depending on your age and medical history, you may be eligible for a standard rate for life insurance.

Will taking weight-loss injections lower the cost of my life insurance?

While you might expect taking weight loss injections would lower the cost of your life insurance, this isn’t necessarily the case.

There are several reasons insurance providers might not view weight-loss jabs as a cure-all for applicants with a high BMI. For a start, they are relatively new, so there is no data to shed light on the long-term effects of taking them. For example, while the University of Oxford research mentioned earlier shows improvements to cardiovascular health, such as lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood-sugar levels, these benefits can be lost if patients quickly regain their weight.

Side effects linked to weight loss injections have also been widely reported in the media, including potentially serious conditions such as acute pancreatitis.

Rather than focus on the pros and cons of these jabs, insurers will be more interested in the underlying health conditions that are behind a high BMI score or the potential risk of someone with a high BMI developing illnesses such as diabetes or cancer.