Have you ever wondered how your occupation, or how you spend your spare time, might affect your insurance?

Insurance can provide invaluable peace-of-mind, providing you financial protection that can help keep your finances on track, no matter what twists and turns life takes.

It’s important to understand, however, how your occupation, health and hobbies can have an impact on your insurance cover.

Here’s what you need to know.

What lifestyle changes can affect insurance?

There are a few different ways that a change in your lifestyle could affect how insurers perceive your risk of a claim, and as a result, this may impact your insurance cover.

Taking up a new hobby can mean an increased level of risk, particularly if it’s something thrill-seeking like cave diving or skydiving. People who are involved in activities such as car racing might also see an impact on their insurance.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t get insurance or can’t continue with your current policies if your lifestyle has changed in this way.

However, if you’re considering taking up a potentially hazardous activity – whether it’s cave diving or skydiving, talk to your SHARE adviser about how this could affect your insurance cover.

You won’t need to advise your insurer about every change in your hobbies, but your adviser can help you to understand whether any activities might be excluded from your policy, or whether there’s any other important information to know.

How might premiums be impacted?

If you need to take out new cover, or move to a new insurer, you could find it is more expensive due to your new lifestyle factors.

In some cases, you could end up being charged a premium “loading” to be able to continue to be covered for something that the insurer deems is making you riskier.

On the other hand, there are ways that a lifestyle change could lower your premiums, even without changing your insurer.

People who quit smoking can often significantly reduce their premiums once they’ve been smokefree for a while. Sometimes reducing your BMI or stopping a high-risk activity can also help.

Could anything be excluded?

Sometimes an insurer assessing your application might respond to your new habits by applying an exclusion to your policy.

This might mean that you couldn’t claim if you were injured while doing something that is considered higher risk.

We can help you understand what this might look like for you.

Schedule in a review

Insurance isn’t something you can set and forget. It’s important to review it regularly. We can help you work out whether there’s anything you need to be aware of when it comes to your new hobbies or work habits.

In some cases, insurers may not all respond the same way, so we can help you to look at whether other providers might consider your circumstances differently.

Ready to talk?

Is it time to update your insurance cover? If you’re thinking about taking out a new policy or just want to check in on what you already have in place, get in touch with us. The team at SHARE are insurance experts who can answer any questions you might have.

Disclaimer: Please note that the content provided in this article is intended as an overview and as general information only. While care is taken to ensure accuracy and reliability, the information provided is subject to continuous change and may not reflect current developments or address your situation. Before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article, please use your discretion and seek independent guidance.