Guide
Health classes explained
The four main rate classes and what qualifies you for each one, or moves you to a higher cost tier.
Life insurance carriers organize applicants into rate classes to price policies. The ladder differs slightly by carrier, but the sequence stays the same: Preferred Plus (some call it Super Preferred or Preferred Best), then Preferred, Standard Plus, Standard, and table ratings for higher-risk applicants. People who use tobacco sit in a separate, costlier tier.
What underwriters look at
Carriers look at weight and height ratio, blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, whether heart disease or cancer runs in your family before age 60, your driving history, what medications you take, what you do for work and for fun, and nicotine use. The top class demands nearly perfect numbers across the board; the next tier allows minor issues; the lower tiers accept controlled conditions like stable, medicated high blood pressure.
How to use the quote tool
The health self-assessment maps to a rate class: pick Excellent and your quotes assume Preferred Plus; Very good assumes Preferred; Good assumes Standard Plus; Average assumes Standard. Your quotes reflect the class you pick; the final class is confirmed by underwriting. Uncertain? Quote two classes and see the spread, then let the application settle it. Gaming the system by picking a better class does not cut your actual premium; it just makes the estimate less honest.
When a particular health situation applies to you, Susman Insurance Agency can steer you to carriers whose underwriting rules are more forgiving for that issue—sometimes a better result than chasing the lowest advertised rate.