Guide
Health classes explained
Preferred Plus, Preferred, Standard Plus and Standard, plus higher-risk ratings: what each label means and what changes your class.
Carriers price term life by rate class. Names differ slightly, but the ladder is: Preferred Plus (sometimes Super Preferred or Preferred Best), Preferred, Standard Plus, then Standard, followed by table ratings for higher risk. Tobacco users have a separate, higher ladder.
What underwriters look at
Build, blood pressure and cholesterol, family heart or cancer history before age 60, driving record, medicine history, job and hobbies, and tobacco or nicotine use. The best class requires clean numbers across nearly everything. Preferred allows a bit more. Standard Plus and Standard allow some managed conditions like treated high blood pressure.
How to use the quote tool
Be honest on the health question: Excellent means Preferred Plus, Very good means Preferred, Good means Standard Plus, and Average means Standard. Quotes reflect your choice; underwriting confirms your true class afterward. If you're unsure, quote both classes and compare, then let the application decide. Picking an optimistic class doesn't lower your final premium; it only makes the estimate wrong.
Susman Insurance Agency can help you find carriers whose underwriting is friendly to a specific condition, which usually matters more than comparing headline rates.