Whether you are shopping for term life coverage or a whole life policy, insurance carriers want to know everything about you when they underwrite your life insurance application. This means your health history, your family’s health history, your smoking status, your job, your hobbies, your travel plans, and your driving history. If you are in picture perfect health, you’ve never smoked in your life, and you sit at a desk for a job and you never travel, then you are probably the perfect candidate for prime life insurance rates. Add a DUI on top of that, and your insurability drops big time.

So how does driving under the influence affect your life insurance rates? That blemish on your driving record will be an issue when you are shopping for life insurance rates for at least 5 years. Some carriers will automatically deny you for coverage, while other companies will rate you up because they deem you as a higher risk than a typical person. This means that you’ll pay extra premium because of your driving history and because of your alcohol abuse. If you have multiple DUI convictions then you’ll most likely be considered uninsurable, which means no carrier will give you coverage.

So the good news is that it won’t affect your life insurance rates indefinitely, but the bad news is that it will make it difficult for you to find an affordable life insurance policy for several years. Give up the drinking, let some time pass, then do some shopping around. With a more positive driving history, carriers will look at you more favorably for life insurance rates. Get a quote today to compare rates from the nation’s top carriers. You can view rates from companies that offer life insurance coverage to those with a previous DUI.