The insurance premium you pay depends on a whole lot of risk factors that an insurer perceives. It's smarter to be aware of them before you buy a policy.

Insurers usually arrive at a premium amount after evaluating all the risk parameters. If you live a healthy life and stay fit, then insurers reward you with lower premiums.

They often try to identify if there are any risk factors that will affect the longevity of your life. This includes smoking habits, higher cholesterol levels, obesity, diabetes, family medical history, age, gender, risky hobbies or for that matter indulgence in adventurous sports. Let's look at some factors, which have a say on how much an insurance cover would cost you.

• Medical facts

The first step is the medical check-up. Every company has a doctor who checks your weight, blood pressure, etc. In case you have signed up for a higher risk cover, then the extent of medical examination is even more rigorous with X-rays, ECG, blood and urine samples.

Insurers mainly look out for cholesterol level, hepatitis or even for HIV virus. They also check nicotine content, medications and also whether illegal drugs are being taken.

The company then decides whether you are in their 'preferred' status or 'substandard' status to arrive at premium rates. So, you can work on conditions such as weight loss to benefit from a lower premium.

• Every puff costs

It may be a well-known fact that smokers have to pay a higher life/health insurance premium. The obvious reason being smokers are more susceptible to numerous terminal diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc.

But most of these insurers rate the smokers. According to industry estimates, non-smokers can almost half the premium than their smoking counterparts. This number, however, will vary depending upon other conditions such as age, family medical history, physical fitness, etc.

Now even if you smoke pipes or cigars occasionally/regularly, but not cigarettes, it's better you mention it in the declaration form. In fact, most insurers don't really differentiate among these variants of smoking.

If you want to be classified as a nonsmoker, you have to be off smoking for a minimum period of 2 years. The standard industry practice to define a nonsmoker is two years of "nicotine-free period." However, some insurers reduce it to a period of one year for the same.

There is no scope for you to cheat as insurers make you go through medical tests, which can detect nicotine in saliva, blood and urine samples.

Although insurance covers are aimed at protecting you from any possible risk, insurers do not encourage covering risky professions or even individuals who enjoy adventurous sports on board. It could be film stuntman or even a non-glamorous miner. They either get a raw deal or in extreme cases, do no get a cover at all.

Similarly, if you enjoy adventurous sports like bungee jumping or paragliding, it may just cost you some extra bucks. In some cases insurers may give them an insurance policy at a nominal premium depending upon other factor, but they may exclude or decline the accident benefit of the policy.

These additional premiums are usually over 20%, depending upon the other risk factors. Even travel insurance policies do not cover adventurous sports and trainees going on sea. There are separate policies for adventurous activities such as bungee jumping, parasailing or deep sea walking. Also, insurers do a detailed research on the kind of protection measures to avoid the occurrence of unfortunate events.

As of now, there are no regulations that throw light on the fact if these individuals can be covered at high premium or not. Insurers reserve the right to decide if they want to cover such risk-prone individuals.

However, companies say they refute a cover to an individual if and only they are prone to life-threatening hazards in a sustained manner.