Huh the insurance test does sound pretty smart. Though I imagine some insurance products might not be quoted at all to any random person?
Because the adjusters have to price the risk objectively - house burn down? Risk relatively low. Submarine go pop? Probably not insurable at any price - either because risk is too high or they can’t evaluate it. And if they can’t, you likely can’t, unless you’re Cameron or someone similar.
That doesn’t mean uninsurable risks aren’t worth taking sometimes. Just be aware and realistic.
FWIW, fatal experimental submarine accidents aren't the weirdest thing insurers have insured. https://havenlife.com/blog/craziest-things-insured-lloyds-lo...
Even if you put the risk of death ridiculously high (say, 90%) for each trip, it probably wouldn’t be impossible to insure it. The premium per trip would just likely be roughly the maximum payout and so it wouldn’t necessarily be worth it.
Whole life policies are basically investment vehicles that are an attractive asset class to a specific segment of the population because of tax reasons.
For those unaware term life pays out if you die within a certain time period. There's a chance that they won't pay out - you're pooling your risk of dying along with that of other people because statistically you're not all likely to die. So the premiums you pay in go to pay out someone who does in fact die.
For whole life the policy is for well your whole life - so the payout rate is 100% because everyone dies eventually. People take out whole life policies which they pay premiums into and those policies accumulate value allowing them to take out loans against the value of the policy. And because of a tax loophole in the United States this allows you to avoid paying taxes on the (what is essentially) investment dividends.
When I worked in the industry the cut off for term life at almost every carrier was 65 years old, though I vaguely remember people introducing policies for 70 year olds which might be a false memory.
Whole life can obviously be sold no matter how old you are. A 103 year old could probably find a carrier willing to issue them a whole life policy for the right price.
The insurers just look at the tables and give you what it will cost. It looks like an 89 year old has between 4-5 years life expectancy so expect to pay in premiums about 20% of the payout. Usually the payout is “burial insurance” at these ages.