Life Assurance Policy Weighting

I presume you asked your existing insurer to review the rating that was applied to your contract. This being the case, unless they agreed when the policy first started, they will refuse as to fully re-underwrite you they would want to check every aspect of your health, lifestyle, not just the specific reason they may have applied a loading. The terms & conditions probably do not allow them to do this, plus such a process would incur significant "non standard" administration and costs; medical evidence, underwriter time and potentially their systems can't cope. So, the long and short of it is that most insurers will simply say that if you want to be reassessed you will have to apply for a new policy.

I'll try and explain the "logic". It might take a bit of imagination but I hope it helps to understand the "pooling" approach insurers take. Your insurer judged the likelihood of a claim was 100% greater that for another customer who represented an average risk. Whilst a very personal and individual decision, this isn't how the insurer sees it. You are effectively joining a "pool" of people who are also considered to have a 100% higher likelihood of a claim.

For simplicity's sake, imagine this insurer had only two pools of customers, Group A; 10,000 lives that were rated at 100% and Group B; 10,000 that were average risks. The insurer assumes (in the long term) that the claims experience from Group A would be double Group B. This does not mean that everyone in Group A will claim earlier than everyone in Group B.

If the insurer provided customers with the option to review their terms for all its customers, only those who expect to benefit would ask for a review. A customer who was an average risk but who had been diagnosed with cancer wouldn't risk being reassessed and losing their insurance. Two years ago, the insurer decided to put you in Group A.

This doesn't mean that two years later, the same insurer, or indeed another insurer would make the same decision. I hope I've explained the logic from a "pooling" point of view, but I can't really help explain the specific underwriting decision made two years ago. That is a matter between you and your insurer. If everything in else in your circumstances is the same as it was two years ago then I'd tend to agree that you would be perceived as a better "risk" than two years ago. Only way to know for sure is to test the market. I'd recommend that you seek the input of a financial adviser as they are very familiar with the situation you are in and this approach will increase the likelihood of you getting a better deal that trying yourself. Importantly don't cancel your policy until any replacement policy is live.

Good luck, and hope this helps (and apologies for the length of the reply)