Editor’s note: First published November 2022 | Refreshed November 2025 with updated insurer data, added underwriting insights & reinstated the original James Bond intro.
Quick summary: Love scuba, skydiving or motorsport? You can still get life insurance — you’ll just pay a bit extra. The trick is matching your pastime with the insurer that understands it rather than panics about it.
If you fancy yourself as the next James Bond — minus the tux and Aston Martin — and you’re wondering how your thrill-seeking ways might hit your wallet, you’re in the right place.
Most people want to spend as little as possible on life insurance and mortgage protection.
Same here.
But if you spend weekends lobbing yourself out of planes, diving off cliffs or hammering round Mondello, you’re not going to quit just to shave a few euro off your premium.
So let’s look at how your high-octane weekends affect your life insurance and mortgage protection in Ireland.
Why Insurers Care About Your Thrills
Life insurance pricing comes down to risk.
If your Tuesday evening involves exploring shipwrecks while Cliff next door massacres “Wonderwall” on the geetar, you’re the one more likely to make a claim. Insurers aren’t being killjoys — they just like predictable customers and steady cashflow.
Imagine you sign a €1 million policy and two weeks later become the first confirmed Great White snack off Dalkey Bay. Your family gets a million quid after you’ve paid one premium. Brilliant for them; disastrous for the insurer’s spreadsheet.
What They’ll Ask You
No AI wizardry here — you’ll get a good old-fashioned questionnaire. Typical examples:
Scuba diving questions
- When and where did you learn to dive? (PADI, BSAC etc.)
- Average dives per year over the past three years?
- Usual and maximum depths?
- Do you dive alone or with a buddy / club?
- Do you dive wrecks or caves? If so, how often?
Equestrian questions
- What disciplines do you compete in — Dressage, Eventing, Hunting, Show Jumping?
- Are you recreational or competitive?
- How often do you ride and at what level?
- Any injuries from training or competition?
Flying questions
- Type of aircraft and licence held (PPL, CPL, microlight etc.)
- Average hours flown per year
- Territory — Ireland only or international?
- Do you fly passengers or just yourself?
Your answers help the underwriter decide if you’re a mild, moderate or substantial risk.
Different insurers rate the same hobby very differently — which is why having a broker in your corner matters.
Behind the Scenes: How Underwriters Actually See It
Picture an office full of people who love spreadsheets and mutter “hmm” a lot.
They don’t care about danger; they care about predictability. They sort applications into boxes like “Standard”, “Special Risk”, and “Good luck to him”.
If they can see clear rules and safety certs for your sport, they relax. If you’re the guy winging it with a GoPro strapped to his helmet, they start typing numbers with extra zeros.
Your job — and mine — is to make their job as boring as possible.
What Counts as “Risky”?
Indoor climbing with crash mats = fine.
Free-climbing the Cliffs of Moher = madness in their eyes.
- Scuba diving beyond 40 metres or wreck / cave dives
- Private flying or microlight aviation
- Parachuting / skydiving
- Motorsport — rally, MX or track days
- Outdoor rock climbing / abseiling
- Trans-ocean sailing or offshore kayaking
- Skiing off-piste because the marked runs are “boring”
One-off holiday madness? They’ll ignore it.
A regular habit? Expect a loading.
How Much Extra You’ll Pay in 2025
Every insurer has its own pricing grid, but roughly:
- Scuba < 40 m – normal price
- Scuba > 40 m – +€300–€900 per year (on €300 k cover)
- Private flying < 200 hours – normal price
- Private flying > 200 hours – +€300–€600 per year
- Motorsport / mountaineering – case-by-case (+25–50 %)
Real-world example: One client of mine in Cork dives to 75 metres using a Closed-Circuit Rebreather. He pays about €1,400 extra a year on a €500 k policy — and he still got cover because we matched him with the right insurer.
How to Get a Fair Price
👉 Be honest about your hobby from the start. Trying to hide it just creates refusals later.
👉 Get a broker to do a pre-submission to all five Irish insurers so you don’t have five applications floating around with different answers.
👉 Show proof of training or club membership — insurers love anything that suggests you’re not a lunatic.
👉 If you ever retire from the sport, tell them. They’ll remove the loading and your premium drops. That’s a win.
Honesty Matters — Seriously
You might be tempted to “forget” the odd risky weekend to save a few euro.
Don’t.
For the love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey, tell the truth.
If you die doing something you didn’t disclose, the insurer can void the policy and your family gets zilch. That’s not a story you want told at the wake.
Mini client story: Jason, a motorbike racer from Galway, initially left his track-day habit off his form. When we redid the application honestly, one insurer still gave him standard rates because he was amateur-level with safety training. Being upfront saved him from potential future disaster.
Myth-Busting Time
- Myth 1: “My hobby means I can’t get cover.” Rubbish. It just means we need to find the right insurer.
- Myth 2: “They’ll automatically double my premium.” Nope. Most loadings are modest if your safety record is clean.
- Myth 3: “It’s cheaper if I keep quiet.” Cheaper until the claim is denied — then it’s the most expensive mistake of your life.
Income Protection and Risky Hobbies
Income protection is less forgiving — most policies exclude accidents from dangerous sports. If you snap an ankle skydiving, you’re on your own. Always read the schedule or ask me to check it for you.
When the Day Job Is Dangerous Too
If you spend Monday on a roof and Saturday racing down one, your occupation matters too. See Life Insurance for Dangerous Jobs in Ireland for how insurers handle that combo.
How Loadings Actually Work
Insurers base loadings on accident data. It sounds cold, but it’s just maths — more risk equals higher price. If you’re curious, see our Life Assurance Loading Hub for the logic behind the numbers and tips to reduce them.
Reality Check
You can’t insure common sense, but you can insure yourself. So if you’re going to jump out of a plane, at least make sure your parachute — and your policy — both work properly.
Over to You
Getting life cover with a risky hobby isn’t impossible — you just need someone who knows which insurer won’t faint when they hear “wingsuit”.
🎯 Ready to see what it’ll cost?
Fill in my financial questionnaire and I’ll shop around for you while you plan your next mad outing.
Or book a callback here for a quick chat — no hold music, just straight talk.
Thanks for reading,
Nick McGowan – QFA RPA APA | Life Insurance Broker of the Year 2022
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