Underwriting Classes Explained

Life insurance companies group individuals into categories known as underwriting classes based on an individual’s health. The 12 most common underwriting classes and health conditions for each of the classes are found below.

Preferred Plus (Best)

Preferred

Standard Plus

Standard

No personal or family history of illness, height and weight are normal

Family history of illness, medication for blood pressure or cholesterol

Mildly overweight, family death at an early age due to illness

Average health, depression or anxiety, family history, prior illness

Table 1/A (25% Surcharge)

Table 2/B (50% Surcharge)

Table 3/C (75% Surcharge)

Table 4/D (100% Surcharge)

Table 5/E (125% Surcharge)

Table 6/F (150% Surcharge)

Table 7/G (175% Surcharge)

Table 8/H (200% Surcharge)

25+ pounds overweight, moderate arthritis, well controlled sleep apnea, skin cancer that has been resolved, mitral valve prolapse without complications

Crohn’s disease, mild to moderate diabetes, 40+ pounds overweight, some hazardous activities, mild heart disease

Epilepsy, recent external cancer treatment, internal cancer treatment over 10-years ago (fully resolved)

Parkinson’s disease, multiple illnesses, 60+pounds overweight, other major considerations

Table 9/I (225% Surcharge)

Thru

Table 16/P (400% Surcharge)

Decline of coverage is more common than issuing a policy in this table range. Conditions include advanced cancers, recent internal cancer treatment, severe heart disease, severe cases of many common illnesses such as diabetes, epilepsy, Crohn’s and Parkinson’s.