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Insurers don’t like to cover excessively dangerous activities, but that doesn’t mean you should be forced to give up your passion. Fortunately, there’s a chance you won’t have to.
Yes, you can still find life insurance if you participate in extreme sports. Life insurers will typically take 1 of 4 actions:
While many standard life insurance policies will not cover you for death or injury sustained in the course of dangerous activities, there are still plenty that will.
The term, “extreme sports” doesn’t have a legal definition, which means it doesn’t have a set description and there’s no clear list of sports that count as “extreme.” Your insurance policy might refer to them as “hazardous activities,” “hazardous pursuits,” “high-risk pastimes” or other similar terms.
Extreme sports that insurers consider higher risk might include:
Some insurers may break up the activities above into separate categories like “contact sports,” adventures sports,” and “extreme sports,” each of which comes with its own distinct policies.
You have several options for finding life insurance that fits you and your favorite pastimes.
Your insurer can’t change your premium when you start participating in extreme sports. But be careful — many standard life insurance policies have an exclusion for extreme sports, so your beneficiaries might not receive any money if you die in an accident.
If you discover an exclusion in your policy documents, consider taking out another policy to protect you and your family in case something happens to you while you’re participating in your hobby. Look for a guaranteed renewable policy, which means your insurer can’t change your coverage or raise your rates as long as you pay your premiums on time.
If you enjoy extreme sports, it’s worth adding an accidental death benefit rider to your policy for a fee. This pays out an additional death benefit to your loved ones if you die in an accident.
You could also look into accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, which is a standalone product that pays out if you die or are seriously injured in an accident.
Life insurance application forms will usually include sections where you answer questions about your participation in extreme sports and other dangerous pastimes. Typically you can expect general questions to begin, and more in-depth questions if the sport is deemed high enough risk and specifics about your sport.
How much it will cost you to get insured for a particular extreme sport depends on how much injuries tend to cost insurers compared to other sports, and how frequently you participate in them.
An example of this is soccer versus motorsports. Soccer has a high risk of injury, but mostly in the form of scrapes, bruises and the occasional broken bone with no permanent damage. This makes it relatively safe and cheap to insure.
Off-road motorsports, on the other hand, are some of the most dangerous and expensive sports to insure. This is because injuries resulting from it tend to be a lot more severe, and much more likely to result in death or permanent disability.
It is particularly difficult to get life insurance coverage for some pastimes. Just like with high-risk jobs, the hardest activities to get covered are those with a particularly high risk of fatality or permanent disability.
Yes, it’s possible. Some policies will allow you to get life insurance with an exclusion on the specific activity.
Alternatively, some policies will cover you for an additional premium. To compensate for the added risk of insuring an extreme sports enthusiast, providers will typically allow you to purchase a rider that covers the specific activity at an additional cost to your premium.
You’ll still find providers that offer coverage, even if you participate in extreme sports. How much it’ll cost you and the type of plans available will vary greatly on your specific sport.
Before you dive on any one policy, thoroughly compare your options to get the coverage you need at a cost you can afford.
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