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You can count on three main factors affecting the cost of your mortgage insurance. Even with the same policy, the premiums may be different based on how large the mortgage is, how old the insured is, and whether it is a smoker.

Both kinds of mortgage insurance-life to pay down the mortgage, or disability to pay mortgage payments-use these three things to determine the premium.

The age and health of the insured is of paramount importance to the insurance company, since that will determine for its actuaries what the chances of paying off the insurance are. There are policies that do not need that the health of the insured be certified by an examination. It is very risky to claim good health without it, however, because the insurance company can deny any claim if it arises from a condition that they can prove to be known to you at the time the policy was written. Don’t think you can claim to be a non smoker and then collect on the insurance because the insurance company didn’t know. They will know, and if you have made incorrect statements on the application, you can jeopardize the entire insurance.

The two types of policies offered are regular, which includes smokers and non smokers, which of course, doesn’t. The smoker’s policy is of course going to be higher than the non smoker’s.

Needless to say, if a policy is going to cover someone without looking to his physical health, there is a built in premium cost for that. So those who are in very good health should consider going for the physical to see if lower premiums are available for him.

These factors can greatly affect premiums, and the premiums for a 50 year old, with the same amount of mortgage, can be more than twice as much as that of a 38 year old. Reducing the principal on the mortgage adjusts the premium by a few dollars, so it is easy to see that the actuarial tables are what drives this pricing. That age has the biggest impact should not be surprising; the insurance increases its collection period and decreases its payout period.

The amount to be be insured is, of course the next prime concern of the policy. But up to around $250,000, the savings are small per each $10,000 difference in value. But once the value of the home that is insured starts to go up, the insurer will require a full application and an individualized quote, and of course, the property itself will need to be assessed.