Electricians, welders and roofers: how underwriters read a trade job

A job title tells an underwriter very little. "Electrician" can mean someone who pulls wire through the ceilings of new houses, someone who maintains lighting in an office building or someone who works on energized lines outdoors. "Roofer" can mean a crew member on a one-story home or a foreman on a steep commercial building. Insurers know this, which is why they ask about duties, not titles, and why two tradespeople with the same title can get very different offers. The honest answer to "will my job cost me more?" is that it depends on what you actually do, how you do it and which insurer reads the file.

This post explains how underwriters think about trade work, what they ask and how to describe the job accurately. It also separates the two things a job can change, price and eligibility, because they are not the same. It is general information about underwriting, not a prediction of any offer.

How insurers think about job risk

underwriting is the process of estimating how likely it is that a policy will pay a claim, and when. Health, age and tobacco use drive most of that estimate. Occupation adds a second layer: the added chance of dying from an accident or a workplace hazard. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5,070 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2024, a rate of 3.3 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, according to its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (released February 2026). That figure averages the whole workforce. Rates differ widely among occupations and among tasks, and insurers' guidelines try to reflect those differences.

Two ideas matter most.

1. The risk is in the tasks, not the trade. An underwriter wants to know how much of your time is spent at height, near live current, in confined spaces, around hot work or heavy equipment, and under what safety controls.
2. Insurers reach different conclusions. There is no universal list. Each company has its own occupation guidelines, and the same job may be treated as ordinary by one and rated by another. That is why shopping matters; see life insurance for high-risk jobs for the general picture.

How occupations get classed

Most insurers sort occupations into a small number of groups, from ordinary risk with no change in price to groups that get an extra charge, a limit on the amount or in rare cases a postponement or decline. The names and the number of groups are different at each company, and the guidelines are internal. What an applicant sees is the result: the policy is offered at the standard price for the health class, with an extra charge or with a limit.

The rating tools an insurer uses for occupational risk are the ones explained in table ratings and flat extras explained:

• No change. The job is treated as ordinary risk.
• A flat extra. A fixed charge per $1,000 of coverage, often for a limited number of years, added to the premium.
• A table rating. A percentage increase in the premium, usually used for health risks and sometimes combined with an occupation charge.
• A cap on the amount. The insurer will offer coverage, but not above a stated amount.
• An exclusion. Rare for occupation on standard life policies, but possible for a specific activity; always read the contract.
• Postponement or decline. Uncommon, usually when the information is incomplete or the exposure is extreme.

Three trades, read by an underwriter

The examples below show the kinds of questions that arise. They describe how underwriters tend to think, not any company's rule.

Electricians

What matters is the type of electrical work and the voltage. The questions might include:

• Residential, commercial or industrial? Wiring a new house, maintaining an office and working in an industrial plant carry different hazards.
• Voltage. Low-voltage and ordinary building wiring are treated differently from high-voltage distribution or transmission work. Utility linemen working on energized lines are generally a more heavily rated group than interior wiremen.
• Energized work. Whether you work on live equipment or de-energize and lock out before work is a standard question.
• Heights. Ladders, lifts, bucket trucks and towers.
• Role. Apprentice, journeyman, foreman or owner who supervises from the truck.

Welders

Welding raises both accident questions and health questions.

• Setting. Shop welding in a controlled environment, pipe or structural welding in the field, or welding at heights or in confined spaces.
• Specialty. Underwater, offshore and hazardous-materials welding are treated differently from ordinary shop work.
• Hot work and fire. Work near flammable materials, tanks and vessels.
• Fumes and respiratory health. Welding fumes can affect the lungs, so underwriters may ask about breathing, exposure, protective equipment and any lung testing. A health issue is evaluated like any other, on diagnosis and treatment.

Roofers

Roofing is a height trade, and the questions follow from that.

• Building type. Single-story residential roofs, steep residential, low-slope commercial and tall structures are different exposures.
• Fall protection. Harnesses, guardrails, safety training and employer practices.
• Role. Crew member, foreman, estimator or owner who rarely goes on roofs.
• Seasonality and weather. Some questionnaires ask where and when you work.

What underwriters ask

A form or a phone interview with an occupational section typically asks:

These questions are part of the standard the questions on a life insurance application process, and they are a reason to read each one carefully before answering.

How to describe the work accurately

Accuracy matters for two reasons. First, the underwriter rates what you describe. Second, the insurer can look into a claim during the contestability period, commonly two years, and a material misstatement about your work can lead to trouble. See what happens if you lie on a life insurance application and the life insurance application entry.

Accurate does not mean alarming. It means complete and specific. A few habits help:

1. Describe a typical week, in percentages. For example: "About 80% of my time is interior residential wiring: new construction and remodels, on ladders under 10 feet. About 15% is service calls and 5% is estimating. I do not work on energized equipment above 480 volts or on utility lines."
2. Name the controls. "We lock out and test before touching any circuit. I have completed an apprenticeship and hold a journeyman license. My employer requires fall protection above six feet." Check that each statement is true before you write it.
3. Include the less flattering parts. If you sometimes work on live panels or on steep roofs, say so, with how often.
4. Say what you do not do. Many applicants forget to mention that they stay off tall structures, avoid certain voltages or work for an employer with strict safety rules. Those facts can lower the classification.
5. Bring documentation if you have it. A license, an apprenticeship certificate or an employer description can resolve a question quickly.
6. Report the whole job. An owner who also works on tools should say so, even though the title is "owner."

If a question does not fit your job, say so in the space provided or tell the agent. Do not guess. If your duties change after you buy, tell the agent or insurer; the contract controls what is required, but you should ask rather than assume.

Two ways to say the same thing

The same worker can be read very differently depending on the words on the form. These are made-up examples of a vague description and a specific one, and both describe true work.

A welder, vague: "Welder. Construction." An underwriter cannot tell whether this is a shop fabricator or a pipe welder on towers, so the case may go to a referral queue, and a request for more detail delays the offer.

The same welder, specific: "Structural welder in a fabrication shop, 90% of the day. Ten percent of the time I travel to install steel on commercial buildings, working below 20 feet from a lift with a harness. No underwater, offshore or tank work. Ventilation and a respirator are used for fumes. I have a certification and nine years in the trade."

An electrician, vague: "Electrician." Many underwriters will ask a follow-up about voltage, setting and energized work.

The same electrician, specific: "Journeyman electrician for a residential contractor. Mostly new-construction wiring and panel installations, with some service calls. I de-energize and test before touching a circuit. I do not do utility line work or work above 600 volts."

A roofer, vague: "Roofer." This is a height trade, so the underwriter will probably ask how high, what pitch and what kind of buildings.

The same roofer, specific: "Roofing crew foreman on single-story and two-story residential reroofs. About half my day is on the roof; the rest is estimating and supervising from the ground. We use harnesses on any roof with a steep pitch, and I have completed my employer's safety training. I do not work on commercial buildings over three stories."

None of these answers is guaranteed to produce a better offer. But specific answers let the underwriter place you in the right group rather than the most cautious one, and they reduce the chance that a vague answer is later read as an omission.

What changes the price and what changes eligibility

These are different questions, and an offer may involve either or both.

Price. Most trade jobs, when the work is ordinary for the trade, end in either standard pricing or a modest extra charge. The tools are the flat extra and, less often, a table rating. The charge may apply for a stated number of years, which helps if your duties will change.

Eligibility. Eligibility questions are about whether the insurer will offer coverage at all, and how much. Things that can change eligibility include extreme exposures, very high amounts relative to income, incomplete information and certain activities. Even then, other insurers may take the risk.

A worked flat-extra example, all figures illustrations. Say a roofer applies for a $500,000 20-year term policy. The insurer's base premium at his age and health class is an illustrative $330 a year. The insurer adds a flat extra of $2.50 per $1,000 of coverage for the first five years:

• Coverage in thousands: $500,000 ÷ $1,000 = 500.
• Flat extra per year: 500 × $2.50 = $1,250.
• First-five-year premium: $330 + $1,250 = $1,580 a year, or about $131.67 a month.
• Total extra over five years: 5 × $1,250 = $6,250.
• After year five, if the flat extra ends, the premium returns to $330.

The numbers show why a flat extra can look large next to a small base premium, and why asking how long it lasts matters. If another insurer charges no flat extra for the same job, the comparison is worth far more than a small difference in the base rate.

What a trade job usually does not change

A job is one factor, and often not the largest one. Health history, tobacco use, build, blood pressure, family history and driving record frequently have bigger effects on price, as life insurance rate classes: preferred plus to substandard explains. A healthy, non-smoking tradesperson in an ordinary-risk role may get the same class as an office worker of the same age, while a smoker with a hazardous job can face both a tobacco rate and an extra charge.

How to shop when your job is the question

1. Use an agent who knows trade occupations. An independent agent or broker can place a case with several insurers and knows which tend to treat a trade more favorably; see captive vs independent life insurance agents.
2. Ask for an informal inquiry first. Agents can describe your occupation and health to underwriters before you apply, to see how the case would look. This is not a binding offer, but it can save you from an application that ends in a decline on your record.
3. Compare the whole offer. Price, flat extra duration, riders and exclusions all count. The life insurance quote comparison worksheet helps you line them up.
4. Read the exclusions. Standard term life rarely excludes a job, but an accidental death rider may exclude certain activities. See what life insurance doesn't cover: exclusions to know.
5. Do not rely on one decline. A different insurer may treat the same job differently.

Other protection for trade workers

• Employer group life. Many group plans pay regardless of occupation up to a guaranteed amount. It usually ends when the job does. See employer group life insurance: what it really covers.
• Workers' compensation. If a worker dies in a job-related accident, dependents may receive death benefits under state rules. It is not a substitute for life insurance, since it covers only work-related deaths. See workers' compensation death benefits: what survivors can receive.
• Union and association plans. Some trade unions offer members a death benefit or group plan.
• Disability coverage. For tradespeople, an injury that ends the ability to work may be a larger risk than death; the policy's definition of disability matters.

For a wider look at how risky work and hobbies are handled, see term life with a risky hobby or job: what underwriters ask and hazardous occupations: how underwriters sort jobs by risk.

Key takeaways

• Underwriters rate the tasks you do, not your title; describe a typical week in percentages, name your safety controls and be complete.
• Insurers disagree about trades, so compare several, ideally through an independent agent who can make an informal inquiry first.
• A job can change price (a flat extra, a table rating) or eligibility (a cap, an exclusion, a postponement); ask which one an offer reflects and how long any extra charge lasts.
• Accuracy matters at claim time: a material misstatement about duties can be investigated during the contestability period.
• Health and tobacco use often matter more than the trade, so a healthy non-smoker in an ordinary-risk role may see little or no change.