Bad habits can result in high insurance rates

By Michele Lerner

Michele Lerner has been writing about personal finance and real estate for more than two decades. In addition to her work for Insurance.com, she has been published in HSH.com, SavingsAccounts.com, Investopedia, National Real Estate Investor magazine, The Washington Times, Urban Land magazine, REIT magazine and numerous Realtor associations publications. Michele is the author of "Homebuying: Tough Times, First Time, Any Time."

You are likely to be aware of the downside of smoking and lack of exercise, but you may not realize that these and other bad habits could be costing you extra money for your insurance.

If you struggle with less-than-perfect behavior, check out the ways it could be costing you money:

• Laziness. Lack of exercise, especially in combination with overeating, can cause a hike in your life insurance premiums. Life insurance companies compare your height and weight to determine if you are borderline overweight or obese. They also review your medical records for risk factors for diseases often associated with weight gain such as Type II diabetes and heart problems. Depending on the severity of your issues, you could end up paying double for the same life insurance policy as someone of normal weight.


• Late payments. If your bills are often overdue, watch out for lapsed insurance coverage on your homeowner policy. If your policy goes unpaid for too long, you'll be forced to take out a new policy that could be priced as much as 20 percent higher.