Life insurance companies are forcing fat people to pay dearly for over-eating. Premiums for fat people are regularly up to four times higher than the standard premium.

But over the last year it’s got even worse. In moves to tighten the belts further, the life insurance companies are lowering their weight limits when categorising people. This means that those who are merely overweight and would previously qualified for a normal premium, now are penalised with higher premiums – and the premiums rise rapidly the more overweight you are.

Weight and height are two of the questions you complete when you apply for life insurance. From the answers, the life company will calculate your Body Mass Index and if that exceeds the limits they define as normal, they will often ask for a report from you doctor and sometimes ask you to have a medical examination. If this confirms that your weight is over their norm, then you can expect your premium to be loaded by at least 50% and rising up to 400% if you’re obese. Recent figures show that around a quarter of applicants will experience problems getting life insurance due to their weight. In extreme cases they’ll even refuse to provide cover.

When deciding whether to load you the insurers also take your age into account. If you’re young and overweight, they’ll hit you hardest. They accept that people naturally tend to put weight on as you age. So overweight and 35 will be hit harder than overweight and 55.

A healthy, non smoking man aged 35 looking for £150,000 level cover over 25 years would be quoted £18.77 by Scottish Provident but this could jump to around £35 if he is overweight and £47 if he is obese.

And obesity is a growing problem. In adults, obesity has rocketed over the last 20 years with more than 60% of men and 50% of women being judged as overweight or obese. And the signs are that the problem will not improve. In children aged between 2 and 15, 22% of boys and 28% of girls are overweight.

Check out how you rate on the Body Mass Index

· Take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 703.

· Divide that number by your height measured in inches

· Divide the resulting number again by your height in inches

· The result is your Body Mass Index. (BMI)

Typically, the insurance companies consider a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 to be normal. Above 25 classifies you as overweight and over 30 makes you obese.

Medical research indicates that people with a BMI of 35 and over face a marked reduction in their life expectancy. A 35 BMI is equivalent to a 15 stone woman 5 feet 5 inches tall and a 5 foot 10 inches tall man weighing 17 stone 6 pounds.

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