Occassionally, I get an applicant who has had a DUI or DWI in the past, and needs life insurance. How does a DUI affect your ability to get life insurance? It affects your offer, which negatively impacts your premium.
Most insurance carriers stipulate that if you have had a DUI or DWI in the past 5 years, you cannot qualify for their best health ratings, such as preferred elite or super preferred, or preferred. Some examples of these carriers are American General, Banner Life, Genworth, ING, West Coast Life, and Met Life. If your DUI or DWI was more than 5 years ago, however, it will be overlooked, so long as all signs point to you being a responsible person who doesn’t abuse alcohol.
A couple factors your underwriter would take into consideration are how often you drink now and your GGT (Gamma Glutamyl Transferase) levels from your blood profile. There is a question on every life insurance application that asks how often you drink alcoholic beverages, what type, and how many ounces. Normally, if you say that you have a glass of wine 5 times per week with dinner, that’s fine, but if you once had a DUI, that could be a red flag for the underwriter.
Then from the blood work, they do a GGTP test, which measures the level of irritation in the liver. If you take a lot of medication or drink a lot, your GGT level may be elevated. According to MedHelp.org, normal levels are from 2-65 U/L. If your number is above 65 and you had a DUI, your underwriter could look at that as an indication that you drink more than you are owning up to on the application. Then he/she would most likely order a CDT. If that is positive, you’ll be declined.
But if your DUI was a one time incident more than 5 years ago and you rarely drink now, you should still qualify for the best rates with most carriers. There are a handful of carriers who won’t allow a DUI in the last 10 years, such as Minnesota Life and Lincoln Benefit. Stay away from these two carriers if your DUI was between 5-10 years ago. AXA is another super stringent carrier on this issue.
If your DUI was less than 2 years ago, there is only one carrier I know who will insure you, Prudential. (see below). If it was 2-5 years ago, your best bet is with Banner Life and Genworth. These two offer their standard or standard plus ratings depending if your DUI was more than 2 years ago. If you’ve had a DUI or DWI in the past and want life insurance, the best thing to do is speak to an independent agent like me, who can assess your specific case and decide which carrier will give you the best rating and lowest premium.
Update 7/8/09: Since this post was written, I now have a carrier who will offer life insurance with one DUI or DWI in the past 2 years to DUI drivers. They will even possibly insure someone who got a DUI as short as one month ago.
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