 TITLE: Does Life Insurance Require a Credit Check? CONTENT: What Else Influences Your Life Insurance Costs?\n-----------------------------------------------\nWhile a credit check could impact your life insurance underwriting process and premiums, other factors will likely have a larger influence on your costs. Because life insurance pays out when someone dies, these factors tend to be centered around a person's health and the risks they take. They can include:\n*   **Age and sex**: Someone who is younger may be less likely to die soon, and women tend to live longer than men.\n*   **Health history**: Your physical and mental health history, along with your current or past prescription drug use, can impact your cost.\n*   **Family medical history**: Similarly, if your family has a history of certain illnesses or hereditary diseases, that may increase your cost.\n*   **Hobbies and work**: Regular tobacco use or risky hobbies, such as rock climbing, can lead to higher premiums. Your job can also impact your cost, because working in an office is less dangerous than being a construction worker.\n*   **Driving and criminal records**: A history of car accidents or a criminal record may indicate risky behavior that could make life insurance more expensive.\n*   **The policy**: A longer-term policy with a higher benefit amount will be more expensive than a shorter-term policy with a low benefit.\nThis information is not included in a credit report or credit score. Life insurance companies collect it from a variety of sources, including what you share on your application, your medical records and (potentially) a medical exam. Companies also purchase information from consumer reporting companies.\nFor example, MIB Inc. creates MIB consumer reports with consumers' medical conditions and hazardous hobbies. And Milliman IntelliScript offers consumer reports with histories of consumers' prescription drug purchases.\nSimilar to consumer credit bureaus, federal law may allow you to request a free copy of your consumer report (if one is available) from these companies at least once every 12 months. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has a list of consumer reporting companies, along with their contact information. END