Guide
Health classes explained
Preferred Plus, Preferred, Standard Plus and Standard—what each tier means and how you're placed.
Insurers organize term life pricing into rate classes. Labels shift from company to company, but the tiers follow a pattern: Preferred Plus (sometimes labeled Super Preferred or Preferred Best), Preferred, Standard Plus, Standard, then surcharges for above-standard risk. Smokers and tobacco users have their own parallel tiers with higher premiums.
What underwriters look at
Your height and weight, blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, whether heart disease or cancer ran in your family before age 60, your driving record, what medications you take, what you do for work or hobbies, and any tobacco or nicotine use. The top tier demands excellent marks on nearly everything; the next tier is slightly more forgiving; the bottom tiers accept managed conditions like controlled high blood pressure.
How to use the quote tool
The health question wants you to be truthful about yourself: Excellent health corresponds to Preferred Plus, Very good to Preferred, Good to Standard Plus and Average to Standard. Your quotes are based on your chosen tier, and the carrier verifies your actual tier during underwriting. Uncertain? Get quotes at two different levels and see the difference, then let your application determine the real one. Claiming better health than you have doesn't lower what you'll actually pay; it just makes your estimate wrong.
Susman Insurance Agency can point you toward carriers that take a more flexible view of your particular situation—which often beats chasing the lowest advertised rate.