Life insurance is essential - The UK's most dangerous jobs
Despite an avalanche of statistics, there is no agreement about what the most dangerous job in the UK is – although a look at your life insurance premium might give you an idea whether it’s the one you do or not.
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The government publishes an official list, but doesn’t break professions down into individual jobs, unlike in the United States (where the government regularly confirms that lumberjacks are the most at-risk workers in the US). This makes the job of a life insurance actuary a complicated one – if not death-defying, with most studies agreeing that office-based workers are among the least likely to find their lives endangered at work.
Like to be beside the seaside? Get life insurance!
An absence of seawater seems to be a good indicator that your job is relatively safe. A 2002 Oxford University survey declared fishing – of the deep-sea trawling, as opposed to the deckchair-and-snoozing, variety – to be the UK’s most dangerous profession, followed by that of merchant seaman, with being a docker or stevedore also making the top ten.
In 2006, life insurance company Risk Placement Services announced what it thought the eight most dangerous jobs were. They added diver and oil or gas rig worker to the list of hazardous sea-based jobs (and pointed out that if the oil rig isn’t at sea, it’s likely to be in an equally dangerous location – like Nigeria, or the Middle East).
It also pointed out the self-evident danger of being a demolition, bomb disposal or mine-clearance expert, or a “Soldier/security guard in a war zone or country with a Foreign Office travel warning” – their precision acknowledging that life insurance premiums will be higher in Kabul than in Kensington Barracks.
Risks to life closer to home can affect insurance premiums
Danger can still be found on UK shores – even in the humble churchyard, with steeplejack frequently being cited as a dangerous job; and the mortality rate of scaffolders suggests you should think twice before attempting your own roof repairs.
According to the Oxford University study, lorry driving is in the top ten most dangerous jobs, while being a movie stuntman isn’t – and even the Fire Brigades Union agrees that being a firefighter is only the UK’s 23rd-most dangerous job (but more dangerous than being a police officer).
In reality there is no way the danger of one job can be measured against that of another – and all life insurance companies measure risks and liabilities in different ways.
Life insurance companies agree that most of us – an estimated 85 per cent of the UK – share a “standard” level of risk while at work, which can contribute to a standard life insurance premium.
But if one company’s quote seems to be unreasonably high – because of your occupation – it’s worth shopping round to see if another company offers you a better deal.
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