Insurance Tools · Life Insurance

Underwriting Risk Classifier

See how an underwriter turns your health, build, smoking and lifestyle into a risk class, and how a rating multiplies the premium.

Ideal build band
Risk class
Premium multiple
vs. standard rate
Standard premium
$250k · 10-yr term / yr
Your premium
per year
Annual premium by risk class; your class is highlighted.
How this works. An underwriter starts every applicant at a baseline score of 100: the average, standard life. Each factor adds debits for higher mortality risk (smoking, an unhealthy build, a chronic condition, a hazardous job, a poor driving record) or subtracts credits for exceptional health. The final score sets the risk class: preferred (exceptionally low risk), standard, rated (above-average but insurable, priced as a table rating, each table adding ~25% to the standard premium), or declined. The premium multiple shows how the rating scales the base premium.
Educational illustration of standard Canadian insurance concepts. Figures are illustrative, not an insurer’s rates.
Illustration only, not a quote or advice. Figures are simplified for education and do not reflect any specific insurer's rates. Consult a licensed advisor.