Cheap Life Insurance as a Smoker

Introduction

If you are a smoker, you are probably well aware of the fact that your habit places you at odds with large segments of society. The social norm has been greatly altered from the days when doctors recommended certain brands of cigarettes. These days, smokers have become accustomed to being relegated to smoking outdoors or being forbidden to smoke altogether in many public places. As a smoker, you will probably also pay a premium for health and life insurance. However, depending on the nature of your habit and your insurer, you may be able to obtain cheap life insurance, even as a smoker. This is especially true if you seek out life insurance agents who specialize in working to obtain policy coverage for smokers.

Cigarette Smokers

If you smoke cigarettes, you are a smoker as far as life insurance underwriters are concerned. A very small handful will make allowances for so-called social smokers, smokers who only light up at a bar or during a poker game, for instance. In general, however, if you want lower life insurance rates, you must kick the habit. However, don’t expect your premiums to fall right away. Many insurers will ask whether you have used tobacco within the past five or ten years. If your answer is “yes,” and you are an ex-cigarette smoker, expect to pay higher rates than someone who has never smoked.

Non-Cigarette Tobacco Use

The data is mixed on whether pipe smokers, cigar smokers, chewing tobacco and snuff users can be classified as nonsmokers. For most pipe and cigar smokers, the answer is no. Likewise, if you use a Turkish water pipe or hookah to smoke, a majority of insurers will still consider you a smoker for life insurance policy underwriting purposes, although standards vary by how heavy your non-cigarette tobacco smoking habit actually is. If you chew tobacco or use snuff, you may have better luck finding a life insurance policy insurer willing to classify you as a nonsmoker.

Electronic Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes do not contain tobacco, so they cannot be classified as a tobacco product. They also do not produce tar or many of the other nasty side effects of regular cigarettes. However, most electronic cigarettes do contain nicotine so some insurers may classify you as a smoker if you admit to smoking electronic cigarettes. However, if you only smoke electronic cigarettes that contain NO nicotine, you can truthfully claim to be a nonsmoker for the purposes of life insurance policy underwriting.

Nonetheless, the jury is still out on electronic cigarettes as far as insurance underwriters are concerned. Even without tobacco, electronic cigarettes still pose potential health problems. Research ahs also not shown whether smoking electronic cigarettes leads to smoking regular cigarettes or helps smokers to quit the habit.

Illegal Substances

If you smoke marijuana or crack cocaine, you potentially have more serious problems than being unable to obtain cheap life insurance.  Admitting that you engage in smoking illegal narcotic substances may produce a visit from the police, in addition to disqualifying you from obtaining life insurance. However, many life insurance underwriters are disinclined to serve as an auxiliary arm of the law, so admitting to an occasional indulgence likely won’t result in jail or prison time. However, depending on the insurer, you may find yourself stuck with a Substandard classification for life insurance underwriting purposes, which translates into higher policy premiums.

Obtaining Life Insurance as a Smoker

You may be tempted to lie in order to obtain cheap life insurance as a smoker. The best advice can be summed up in a single word: don’t. Insurance underwriters are very diligent where due diligence for policy coverage is concerned. That’s because once they issue a policy, unless you have been fraudulent in your responses on the application, the policy cannot be cancelled as long as you remain currant on the payments.

It is not at all unusual for insurance underwriters to conduct background checks to verify the responses you give on a policy application.  This does not mean that you have to look over your shoulder for private detectives snapping pictures while you smoke in your back yard. However, if an underwriter contacts one of your neighbors or a family member to ask about your tobacco use, it’s possible that your lie could be discovered. Once it has been disclosed that you have been less than forthcoming in your application, you can expect a quick denial from the company from which you are seeking coverage.

Author Sam Jones suggests that people looking for cheap life insurance should compare insurance quotes on uSwitch the insurance price comparison website