EXCLUSIVE-Insurers get tough as obesity levels rise

By Jennifer Hill

LONDON (Reuters) - A growing number of people with common medical conditions are being refused life cover, as soaring obesity levels hit insurers.

Diabetics are among the worst affected, according to TheInsuranceHelpline.co.uk, a broker that specialises in finding cover for people with medical problems.

Type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to being overweight, and the number of sufferers is on the rise as the population becomes increasingly obese.

TheInsuranceHelpline.co.uk says it has seen a 30 percent jump in the number of diabetics approaching it in the past year, after struggling to take out life insurance, income protection or critical illness cover -- even if their illness is under control and not related to being overweight.

Managing director Ron Moonesinghe attributes the problem to household insurers vying to remain competitive amid Britain's growing obesity problem.

The outlook, he says, is bleak: "We have a teenage population that's supposedly the fattest in Europe," he told Reuters.

"More obesity will lead to more diabetes -- and a growing insurance crisis: it's a time-bomb waiting to go off."

In recent years, insurers have been forced to pay out growing sums on protection policies -- which include level term and whole-of-life cover as well as critical illness insurance -- according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).