Guide
Health classes explained
Standard Plus, Standard, Preferred, and Preferred Plus: how the grades work and what pushes you from one tier to another.
Insurers organize term-life pricing into rate classes. Though company names vary slightly, the standard range is: Preferred Plus (sometimes Super Preferred or Preferred Best), Preferred, Standard Plus, and Standard, with modifications for higher risk. Applicants with tobacco use land in a parallel, pricier tier.
What underwriters look at
Height and weight ratio, blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, whether cancer or heart disease shows up in your family before 60, your traffic and moving violations, what drugs you've been prescribed, your work and hobbies, and tobacco or nicotine consumption. Top-tier classes demand excellent marks in virtually every box; the next tier allows a bit of slack; lower tiers accept managed conditions such as blood pressure treated with medication.
How to use the quote tool
The health question expects you to rate your own condition truthfully: Excellent usually maps to Preferred Plus, Very good to Preferred, Good to Standard Plus and Average to Standard. Those classes show in your quotes; the insurer validates the final tier during review. When you're unsure, get quotes for two different classes to compare—the application process makes the ultimate call. Picking a grade that sounds too rosy doesn't actually reduce your final bill; it just makes the quote less realistic.
Susman Insurance Agency can point you toward carriers that take a gentler view of your particular circumstance, which often beats shopping just on headline rates.