Height and weight tables: where the graded line actually sits by carrier

Build is the underwriting question agents most often get wrong because they estimate. A 5'4" client who "looks about 200" and is actually 238 crosses a build limit at half the carriers you'd use.

Ask, don't guess. "What did you weigh at your last doctor visit?" gets a real number more often than "how much do you weigh." Then ask height without shoes. Write both down.

How the tables work. Every carrier publishes a height and weight chart for each product. Below one line, level benefit. Between two lines, graded or a table rating. Above the top line, decline for that product and often for the carrier. The lines differ enough between carriers that the same client is a level case at one and a decline at another.

Where the lines tend to fall for a 5'6" client. Level up to roughly 240 to 260 at the more lenient FE carriers, graded up to 280 to 300, and declines above that. Stricter carriers cut level at 220 to 230. These are ranges, not quotes; pull the actual chart for the carrier you're writing.

Weight loss and gain. Recent unexplained weight loss is its own question on many apps and can trigger a request for records. Bariatric surgery within the last year or two is often a postpone.

The tall and heavy client. A 6'3" 290-pound client is in a very different table position than 5'6" 290. Don't quote the short client's rate to the tall one or vice versa.

Practical tip. Keep the three or four build charts you use most as photos on your phone. Checking a chart at the table takes twenty seconds and saves a re-quote.

Which carriers have the most lenient build chart you're using for FE right now?