Life Insurance Table Ratings: How They Work & Examples

Last Updated: October 2020

Table ratings are a common system used by all life insurance companies for evaluating your risk as an applicant and determining how much your life insurance premiums will ultimately cost you.

Table ratings are also used often when purchasing high-risk life insurance.

For anyone with health-related issues, getting a quote for life insurance coverage can be a confusing process.

Especially when your life insurance agent tries to explain a table rating and completely loses you.

This article will make sense of life insurance table ratings:

• Understanding Table Ratings And Life Insurance
• Example Table Ratings On Life Insurance Policies
• Consider Rootfin To Avoid Table Rated Life Insurance Premiums

---

Understanding Table Ratings And Life Insurance

If you have any problems with your health then you’re most likely looking at a table rated life insurance policy which increases your life insurance premiums.

Table ratings for life insurance coverage are an extra charge that is added on top of the standard life insurance rates used to quote applicants who have health issues.

Your life insurance table rating depends on the severity of your health issue.

After a life insurance company reviews your application, medical exam results, and doctor’s records, they will assign a health class.

If the underwriter determines your health falls below their standard underwriting guidelines, they will assign a table rating.

Most life insurance carriers will assign a 25% charge on top of their standard rate for each table.

---

Example Table Ratings On Life Insurance Policies

To create an example for this, let us say that usually, ABC company charges a standard premium of $100 per month:

• Table 1 or A: 25% table rating or $125 per month.
• Table 2 or B: 50% table rating or $150 per month.
• Table 4 or D: 100% table rating or $200 per month.
• Table 8 or H: 200% table rating or $300 per month.

As you can see from the example, as the tables increase, so does the rate of the additional premium, and a person who had severe health issues would have to pay quite high premiums to ensure that they had adequate life insurance coverage.

If you suffer from only minor health-related problem these may not directly affect your life insurance coverage and you may just pay a normal standard rate, but obviously, if you suffer from more high-risk health issues, these will ultimately reflect in the number of premiums you have to pay in the form of a life insurance table rating.

Keep in mind, if your health improves, you can always re-apply and try and get a lower table rating or even a Standard rating.

We see this happen all the time, especially with overweight people who lose a lot of weight.

Or people who don’t have any control of their health issues and finally get everything under control.

If you’ve been offered a table rated policy, make sure you shop it around.

Every company has its own underwriting guidelines and a good and experienced life insurance agent should easily be able to find you a company that puts you and your particular health issue in the most favorable rate class.

Don’t Ignore Other Coverage Options If You Struggled and Received Highly Rated Life Insurance Offers

Sometimes table ratings are a blessing and consumers are thrilled and happy to receive any offer for coverage.

On the flip side, sometimes table ratings can make life insurance exit our budget range or you may have even been declined for coverage altogether.

If this is the case, you need to be considering other options for coverage such as accidental death life insurance or even guaranteed issue life insurance.

Companies such as Gerber Life and AIG offer affordable whole life coverage that will not use your health background against you.

Thus, you remove the potential for table ratings having any impact on your application at all.

In exchange for this option, you will have a mandatory waiting period attached to your coverage being placed in force but at the same time, your placing protection around your family and saving yourself a lot of headaches.

Do not let a table rating or a declined application keep you from protecting what matters the most.

---

Consider Rootfin To Avoid Table Rated Life Insurance Premiums

Tables ratings should not be a reason to fear applying for life insurance coverage.

We help our clients all the time to avoid highly-rated life insurance policies by shopping their life insurance with dozens of top-rated life insurance companies.

If you’re looking for life insurance coverage, your best option is to contact an independent company who will do the searching for you, they will also tailor the insurance coverage to your particular needs and will ultimately save you both time and money.

Here at Rootfin Online Life Insurance Agency, we are an independent and impartial company and we represent more than 60 carriers and provide life insurance coverage in every state.

We have a fully experienced team of life insurance agents always on hand ready to give you the best possible advice regarding your life insurance needs.

We’re experts at locating the right company to provide you with the perfect policy.

We take pride in the fact that the relationships we build with our customers are built on mutual trust and understanding of each of their individual needs. We have total confidence in our ability to find all of our clients, no matter what their circumstances, the best possible life insurance coverage deal, which will be individually tailored to their needs.

So if you’ve been offered life insurance coverage with a table rating, let us get to know your risk and give you a second opinion.

Our expertise can most likely secure you a better rate.

Also, if you have any questions about table rating or anything really, call us at 888-430-7668.