What You Should Know

• There are many life insurance companies that offer affordable rates for high-risk life insurance
• The amount you pay and coverage limitations will depend on why you're considered high risk
• If you believe you'll be a high-risk policyholder, you may want to consider no exam life insurance or burial insurance

Many life insurance articles cover the best life insurance companies, but if you need information focused on the life insurance companies that specialize in higher-risk policies you're in the right place.

This article will highlight why you might need a high-risk life insurance policy, where to get one, and how to get the best rates on life insurance regardless of health.

Read on to learn more about life insurance companies that specialize in higher-risk life insurance or enter your ZIP above to get free quotes from the best life insurance companies in your area.

How can I find life insurance companies that specialize in higher-risk life insurance?

It's no secret that life insurance tends to be more expensive for those who are classified as high risk. Otherwise, life insurance companies would lose a fortune on policyholders who are provided a death benefit without paying into a policy for very long.

For starters, you'll need to know a person is classified as high risk. What makes matters complicated is that there are different reasons in which someone might be considered high risk.

Some of those reasons include:

• Smoking
• Drug use
• Poor overall health
• Critical illness/disability
• Dangerous job
• Imprisoned

These are just a few examples of things that could force a life insurance company to consider you high risk and ultimately charge you more for a policy.

You'll have different options for life insurance depending on what makes you high risk. The top 10 life insurance companies for smokers will likely be different than those who have dangerous jobs.

The reason for your high-risk designation will be important when determining which life insurance companies are the best for you.

What are the best life insurance companies that specialize in higher-risk life insurance?

Most life insurance companies will cover someone that's considered high risk. However, it usually comes at a price. For most people, the worst life insurance companies will be the ones that charge the most.

As mentioned above, the best company will depend on your circumstances. For smokers, you might be able to find an affordable high-risk life insurance policy without any major changes.

In this case, it's more important to shop and compare rates from local providers to determine who will be the most reasonable.

On the other hand, someone with a disability or major health concerns might want to stick to no medical exam life insurance. There are a handful of strong providers that offer these policies, which include:

• AIG
• Minnesota Life
• North American
• Prudential
• Sagicor
• State Farm
• Transamerica

If you are disabled or have major health concerns, it could be worthwhile to compare State Farm life insurance rates to Prudential life insurance rates, for example.

Each of the companies above will have different coverage limits and even age restrictions. Yet again, this is where your circumstances become more and more important.

If you are considered a high-risk customer but have no other people relying on your income, it might be easier to simply get burial or final expense insurance.

In short, these policies yield a much smaller death benefit that is specifically designed to cover funeral expenses. This way, nobody has to pay the bill on your behalf, but they don't get a major payout from a death benefit either.

In simplest terms, the higher the death benefit, the more you'll pay for your life insurance policy. Be sure to ask yourself, do I need life insurance? Your employer might already cover your basic needs.

What are the cheapest life insurance companies that specialize in higher-risk life insurance?

It's hard to break down the exact rates for higher-risk policyholders because of the variability in high-risk classifications.

Beyond your classification, additional variables such as age and gender will always play a factor in your life insurance rates.

Above, we've compared sample rates from some of the best life insurance companies for adult males that smoke compared with non-smokers' rates for a $250,000 policy.

In this case, you'll see that a company like State Farm is basically always more expensive for life insurance if you're a healthy adult. For young and middle-aged smokers, State Farm actually provides competitive rates.

Again, this is why it can be so important to shop for rates based on your personal situation. Overall, Prudential seems to be consistently cheaper, although MassMutual isn't much more expensive in most cases.

The rates above are for traditional term life insurance policies. Smokers can expect to pay two or three times as much for life insurance. These rates are likely going to be similar for no exam life insurance policies.

Burial insurance will have very different rates and is often only available to older adults.

You'll see above that the rates for burial insurance tend to be higher in general, but that's mostly due to the applicant's age. At 65 years old, the non-smokers' rates from the previous table were a minimum of $242.60, nearly double the cost of burial insurance.

Otherwise, the rates from some of the top burial insurance companies are very competitive overall.

How do I choose the best life insurance company that specializes in higher-risk life insurance?

For most people, the best life insurance company will be the most affordable. With most popular life insurance companies, you can feel safe knowing that they have a large following and are financially adept.

If you decide to choose a smaller or lesser-known life insurance company, you'll want to investigate their life insurance ratings and reviews.

Overall, the companies listed above are all fairly trustworthy. It's clear that a smaller company like Sagicor might not have the financial support of State Farm or MassMutual.

A.M. Best, Fitch, S&P, and the Better Business Bureau all help to identify any major concerns that would potentially deter you from buying life insurance with any specific company.

J.D. Power also ranks life insurance companies to help policyholders get an idea of what the customer service experience might be like.

Of the companies listed above, State Farm and MassMutual are the only two that rank above the industry average. Prudential and Transamerica appear lower than average, while Sagicor and Foresters aren't listed at all.

Life Insurance Companies That Specialize in Higher Risk Policies: Painting a Clearer Picture

Overall, there are many options for high-risk life insurance and your personal situation will have a big role in determining which is right for you. It's important to have a clear idea of coverage expectations and to follow up by comparing life insurance rates.

By now, you should know how to shop for life insurance companies that specialize in higher-risk policies. Before you go, enter your ZIP code below to get free quotes from the top life insurance companies near you.

References:

1. https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2021-us-individual-life-insurance-study