What Kind Of Life Insurance Is Available For Smokers?
While smoking can be very enjoyable, still it is a habit that causes significant harm to health both for yourself and the people around. It is a known fact that those who smoke are at much risk of health complications caused by the habit. It is due to the severity of the health problems caused by smoking that many companies fail to provide insurance for smokers.
Cheapest Life Insurance For a Smokers : Guidelines and Quotes Comparison
Can A Smoker Get Life Insurance?
You might think that as a smoker it is difficult to get life insurance, but the reality is that you can get it…surely… by looking into insurance companies that offer it specifically for people who have the habit. However, it will not be an affordable insurance as the premium charged is very high. Why so?
Life Insurance For Smokers
Insurance companies consider people who are smokers to be a high risk, hence they charge more. In fact, a smoker in his thirties will be expected to pay double or triple times premium than that of a non smoker. Someone in his forties will have to be triple or quadruple time more premium than a non smoker. Yes, the situation is certainly complicated, as the smoking habit puts the policy holder at a high risk of diseases.
Why Do Insurance Companies Charge Smokers More Premium?
People with a smoking habit succumb to various diseases. At first, the health problem can be something minor, but later it can become a major problem like heart condition or cancer etc, requiring severe treatment.
If the person has life insurance, the burden of paying for such costs or any lump sum payment upon the policy holder passing away is more for the insurer. It is not just the smoking aspect that is considered when charging the premium they also look into health of the person. So someone in poorer health condition or who is more aged is going to be charged more than otherwise.
Don’t Hide The Fact That You Smoke
Those who have the smoking habit should not hide it from the insurance company when applying for a policy. The presence of nicotine will show up in test results, so why hide it. Tell about it upfront, so that the insurance company can take necessary steps to provide life insurance accordingly.
Many people actually think about quitting the habit and then applying for insurance so that they don’t have to face higher premiums, but the habit does not really stop suddenly. It takes months to get yourself constrained to not smoking and during this time, you are putting your family members at a risk of sudden health failure which can cause them significant financial strain, when they already have the burden of coping with a difficult health condition arising due to smoking.
When you are given an insurance application, out of the many questions that you will see, one will be for whether you smoke or not. You should state yes here because if you don’t and hide the fact as there is no medical exam from the company, in the event of a severe health problem or passing away, the company will not pay out money to your dependents.
Does smoking void a life insurance policy?
This is because they will find out that the problem was caused due to smoking. Now, the next question is….Is it better to take a policy with no medical exam for smokers or one that demand it from smokers? The latter is a better option because when you opt for the former, you will be charged even higher premiums. It does not affect your premium when you are going to buy whole life insurance.
You Are Considered A Smoker Even If You Use Any Nicotine Product Other Than A Cigarette
Some people think that if they take chewing tobacco or e-c*igs they don’t smoke hence they will not be charged higher premium else they don’t fall into the smoking category.
No, the presence of nicotine will show up in the blood stream for such intake of tobacco and once the company finds this out, you will be charged the kind of premium that a smoker has to pay. Of course, some companies can be a bit lenient, bring down the premium to some extent but this is not the amount that a non-smoker pays. Hence you certainly have to pay an amount that’s higher than a regular policy holder.
Once you have told the insurance company that you smoke, they ask you lots of other questions about it as well. For example are you a casual smoker or a heavy one? Exactly how many cigarettes to you use in a single day.
Peoples are lying about smoking on life insurance
These questions are asked to determine your health risk, based on which premiums are calculated. They don’t stop with asking how many cigarettes you use in a single day, but also on cigars, chewing tobacco, marijuana, nicotine patch, hum, e-c*igs and cigars, so you have to tell them about how much to use any of these products as well.
You might ask… if smoking is going to put me into trouble of paying such a huge amount of money as premium, I had better take up a policy after quitting? Actually, don’t postpone taking up a policy when you have people depending on you.
The sooner you take the policy the better as if any situation. Regarding quitting, you will be considered a non-smoker only if you had not smoked for the past 365 days. This is the standard criteria for them to determine if you are a smoker and have the health risks associated with this habit or not.
I Will Quit Smoking And Then Take A Policy
So, if you want to get regular premiums, you have be serious about quitting. Once you have stopped, show the insurance company that you have done so in a serious way, through medical proof and you can get back into the mainstream of paying regular premium rates. Beware that if any health condition arises which is traced to your smoking habit, dependents don’t get any money.
How To Get An Affordable Policy Even If I Am A Smoker?
Now that you have understood that smoking will cause high premium charges, how can you get a policy at an affordable rate? First of all, companies out there give various types of plans at different rates, You have to really shop around to get a low cost policy. Do the comparison or ask an agent to do the shopping for you and the more extensive the search, the better the chances of getting an affordable smokers’ life insurance policy.
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