Life Insurance for Pilots – Commercial and Private

There are many different reasons you might be considering purchasing life insurance for yourself and your family. Life insurance is an affordable way to provide your family with future financial security and to protect yourself from a wide range of risks. However, sometimes there are certain variables that can complicate the process of getting life insurance. One of these variables that might surprise you is whether or not you are actively a pilot.

Getting Life Insurance as a Pilot

Being a pilot will not automatically disqualify you from getting a life insurance policy, but it could potentially impact the rates you will end up paying. In general, life insurance companies will increase rates for any sort of activity that they believe might raise the chances of an early death. Though being a pilot is something that, at the individual level, is not exceptionally risky, it is still something that insurance companies will likely want to account for. This brief guide will examine how commercial and private pilots can find life insurance policies that directly address their needs.

Policies Will Vary by Company

Recent estimates indicate that there are more than 500,000 Americans who currently have a pilot’s license. Naturally, a group of people this large is one that life insurance providers are not going to want to ignore. Instead of dismissing all pilot activity as too dangerous to insure, must life insurance providers will consider an applicant’s status as a pilot in addition to many other factors such as age, general health, and other possible sources of risk.

In order to make sure you are getting the best life insurance for aviators that you possibly can, it is generally a good idea to compare offers from multiple different life insurance providers. With some insurers, as long as you are healthy, the impact of being a pilot may only increase your monthly premiums by $1 or less. Others will look at your pilot status a bit more seriously. Regardless, looking at multiple insurance providers can help you find the best coverage within your budget and also be more confident in your final decision.

Variables That a Life Insurance Company Look for

Even within the category of “being a pilot”, there are still many other variables that a life insurance company is going to want to consider.

• Whether you are a private or a commercial pilot
• The frequency of flights (hours per year) and total experience flying
• Status of your pilot’s license
• The specific type of aircraft flown (maker, model, number of engines, etc.)

Wanting to get high-quality life insurance is not something that should deter your dream of being an aviator. As stated, the impact that being a pilot will have on your policy could potentially be very small. Once you have disclosed all of the details related to flying with your life insurance provider, they will have a much easier time building a policy that is specific to you.

Considering All Possible Options for Pilots

Another variable to account for is timing. If you believe that you are going to end your career as a pilot in the near future, then you may want to consider waiting before applying for a life insurance policy. However, many life insurance providers are willing to adjust your monthly premiums downward once you are no longer actively flying—if this is the case with a provider you are considering using, then it may make more sense to apply for a policy right away.

There are many different types of life insurance policies available and each of these types of policies may be affected by your status as a pilot in different ways.

• Universal Life Insurance Policies will cover you for your entire life, offer policyholders a unique financial asset known as their “cash value”, and are typically the most expensive types of policies available
• Term Life Insurance Policies are the most affordable, but do not have a cash value and will only cover you for a certain amount of time
• Guaranteed Life Insurance Policies are the policies that are easiest to apply for and will usually ignore whether or not you are a pilot. However, these policies sometimes have increased costs “built-in” to them—if you are otherwise healthy, you may want to consider applying for a more selective policy regardless of your pilot status

Overall, there are many different things that will need to be considered when you are applying for a life insurance policy for high-risk occupations such as a pilot. The amount of coverage, the type of policy, and the variables specific to you are few of the many things that can impact the premium you pay each month. Even if you are a commercial or private aviator, there is still likely a life insurance policy available that can be easily worked into your monthly budget.