Does working in Army Reserves or Border Force affect your insurance?
If you’re in the Army Reserves or working at sea for Border Force, you might assume your life insurance will treat you like any other civilian worker. After all, you’re not dodging bullets daily, right?
However, your role—even if part-time—can dramatically affect how insurers assess your risk.
Let’s unpack it.
Why insurers care about military or paramilitary roles
Insurers don’t just look at your job title. They look at the potential risk over the life of your policy—sometimes up to age 65 or longer. That means:
Could your role involve deployment in future?
Are there risks like explosives, diving, aviation, or combat?
What’s your likelihood of being exposed to hazardous duties?
If the answer to any of these is “maybe,” that’s a red flag. Why? Because insurers need long-term data to estimate the risks and costs over time. Without reliable underwriting data—especially for non-civilian roles—some insurers won’t take the risk at all.
What we actually know from insurer pre-assessments
Let’s stick to the facts. Here’s what the insurers have said in actual cases for Army Reserve and Border Force clients:
What if you work for Border Force or Customs?
Here’s where it gets a bit specific.
According to insurer pre-assessment guidance, clients in marine security roles within Border Force are generally limited to life and trauma cover only. TPD and income protection are often excluded due to the high-risk nature of working at sea.
If your work is purely office-based or support-related, you might have more flexibility, but anything marine-based usually limits the cover types.
So… what does this mean for you?
If you’re in the Reserves or part of Border Force:
Don’t assume default cover through super is enough—especially if you’re not disclosing your full duties
Expect extra questions during pre-assessments—especially around deployment status or hazardous duties
Timing matters—you might qualify for standard rates now, but a notice to deploy can flip that instantly
Why data (or lack of it) drives these decisions
Insurers rely on long-term historical trends to assess risk. But when you’re part of a force that shifts between civilian and military zones (even part-time), that predictability disappears. There’s not enough localised underwriting data for every kind of role in military reserves or maritime enforcement.
Get a pre-assessment before applying
This stuff isn’t always black and white, and your policy’s outcome might depend on:
Your specific role and duties
Any current or future notice of deployment
Whether you’re sea-based or land-based
So before you hit submit on an application, speak to an adviser who can run a pre-assessment and guide you through the insurer differences.
Because in insurance, your job may be more complex than it looks.
Resources:
TAL, BT, NEOS, Zurich, ClearView Pre-assessment Data (Skye internal records)
Zurich | Underwriting