For adrenaline junkies, there’s often no better feeling than going skydiving. It’s hard to find anything that compares to the feeling of flying through the air and taking in views from above. However, going skydiving can come with some risk. Accidents happen, even to those with plenty of experience and the best equipment. If you like to go skydiving, you’ll want to make sure that you have good life insurance. However, you may be worried that life insurance won’t cover you because of your risky lifestyle. Here’s what you need to know about life insurance for skydivers.
Can I Get Life Insurance If I am a Skydiver?
You can, but a standard life insurance policy may not cover it. On the life insurance application, it will ask if you engage in activities such as rock climbing or skydiving. If you do, beware because the policy may have a rider excluding a payout if you die while skydiving. If you want to make sure that your beneficiaries will get paid even if you die engaging in skydiving or other excluded activities (usually piloting small planes, skydiving, rock climbing, scuba diving, and bungee jumping form the list) you need to be upfront with your insurance agent. They will make sure to write a policy that does not exclude a death claim from being paid on if you die engaging in one or all of these hobbies.
Why do I Need Life Insurance as a Skydiver?
Although skydiving is an incredible experience, it’s also one that can come with some serious consequences. Although skydiving equipment and technique have advanced dramatically since the high-flying sport first started, the nature of jumping from a plane puts you at risk for serious injuries and death. In fact, the biggest risk factor for skydivers is human error, rather than an equipment malfunction. The chances of dying in a skydiving accident are roughly 1 in 500,000, while roughly 3 out of every 10,000 dives results in injury. Some of the most common injuries that result from skydiving are broken and dislocated bones, back and spinal cord injuries, whiplash, and eye trauma. Even if the accident itself isn’t deadly, the resulting injuries can be, so it’s always better to be safe than sorry and invest in insurance.
What Kind of Insurance can I get?
As a skydiver, your best bet for life insurance is to get a skydiver-specific policy. Because of the risky nature of skydiving, most insurance companies won’t insure you on their traditional plans. However, you can get a plan designed specifically for skydivers to ensure that you are still covered. While you will still likely end up spending more than if you were not a skydiver, it can mitigate some of the costs that you might encounter if you were to try and get a more traditional form of insurance.
There are several different types of insurance available for skydivers. You can opt for level term insurance, which only lasts for a specified period of time, or for a permanent insurance plan, which covers you for your entire life. Term insurance is typically much more affordable than permanent life insurance. Permanent life insurance, which includes whole life insurance and universal life insurance, provides broader coverage and usually has a cash value component associated with the policy. This cash value component can be invested as a way to grow your wealth.
Why Will I Need to Pay More as a Skydiver?
When insurance companies determine the premiums for your policy, they will look at many factors to determine how likely you are to make a claim, or in less polite terms, how likely you are to die. One of these factors is your lifestyle and hobbies. Because skydiving is considered a risky hobby, you will be charged extra premiums for it. However, insurance policies for skydiving are not as expensive as insurance for many other dangerous sports and activities, in part because of the improvements in equipment and safety regulations for skydivers over the years.
How much you will end up paying for your life insurance is going to depend on how often you skydive. Typically, the insurance company will calculate a base rate for your premium without factoring in your skydiving, and then add a flat fee on top of it. These flat fees could be anywhere from $2 to $10 per thousand dollars of death benefit coverage.
If you only skydive once or twice, you typically won’t have to pay extra for your life insurance. However, if you skydive regularly, even just a few times a year, you’ll likely pay between $2 and $5 per thousand for your flat fee. If you a more regular skydiver, that amount could go up to $10. The insurance company will determine this based on the number of times you jump each year. If you have $100,000 in life insurance coverage, and you are charged a $2 flat fee for skydiving, you will pay an extra $200 in premiums for the year, in addition to the premiums you are already paying.
How Can I Keep My Life Insurance Premiums Down?
If you’re a skydiver, you may be wondering what you can do to lower the cost of your life insurance. While you can’t get out of paying the skydiving flat fees, there are some small things you can do to lower the cost of your life insurance. The biggest thing that factors into the cost of your premiums is your health, so try to eat well and exercise regularly, as well as avoiding smoking and drugs, and drinking in moderation if at all. You can also lower your life insurance premiums by lowering the cost of your death benefit. If you go for this option, it’s important to be careful, as you’ll still want enough coverage to pay off debts and funeral expenses.
I scuba dive, skydive, rock climb, and fly an ultralight aircraft. I need life insurance of about $275,000.
Where can I find it?
Hi Garry,
You should be able to find a policy with a company that accepts those hobbies, though you might not have coverage during those activities themselves. This means that you would have a regular life insurance policy but the benefit wouldn’t pay if you pass away during one of those hobbies. Some companies have those stipulations but others might give you coverage no matter what. You could start by filling out the form at the top of this page to get some options. Additionally, you could search for “life insurance high-risk hobbies” on the internet.