Life Insurance Rates for Smokers Can Be Expensive
I always assumed that life insurance for tobacco users was more expensive than those that don’t use it, but I never realized how much more.
A friend of mine in their 30′s was interested in purchasing term life insurance and what I didn’t know is that he used chewing tobacco. Once I found that out, I warned him that the potential cost could be more – which ended up being way more. In his case, his premium more than doubled. I was astonished. That prompted me to do a little experiment the other day. I wanted to see how using tobacco affects your coverage premiums for life insurance – for males and females. In some ways, I wasn’t surprised at what I discovered. What astonished me was the percentage increase.
What is Term Life Insurance?
In plain English, it’s a form of life insurance that covers a specific term, or period of time. If the insured person passes away during this term, the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary. In contrast, things like Whole Life Insurance cover an individual for his or her entire life. Term life is a solid fit for many people, and being the original kind of life insurance, it’s what many people are used to.
Why Being a Tobacco User will Kill More Than Your Lungs
That’s right – it will also kill you with insurance premiums. It’s no secret that health insurance premiums are higher for smokers. And when you think about it from the insurance company’s point of view, it makes a lot of sense. Smokers are way, way more likely to have health issues. On top of all the issues that smoking itself creates, smokers are more likely to have poor diets, exercise less, and suffer from many illnesses and diseases related to their inactive lifestyle. To an insurance agency, a smoker is one of the highest risk people.
While there are insurance companies out there that specialize in providing life insurance for smokers, there are a few things you can do to help bring down your rates. These include:
- Quit smoking – the most obvious step you can take to bring down your life insurance rates is to quit smoking. It should be noted, however, that some life insurance companies will not lower their rates until after a smoker has quit for two or three years.
- Cut back on the smoking – some insurance companies will charge less if you only smoke a cigar on occasion, but do not smoke cigarettes
- Don’t chew tobacco – many insurance companies will still consider you to be a “smoker” even if you use smokeless tobacco products
The bottom line is that you can still get life insurance even if you are a smoker or use smokeless tobacco or any other nicotine product. In order to get the best prices, however, it is a good idea to quit smoking and to work with an agent who specializes in life insurance for smokers and life insurance for nicotine users who may suffer from other health issues.
Related articles
- Saving Money on Car Insurance (savealittlemoney.com)
- The Benefits of Commercial Van Insurance & Van Insurance Quotes (savealittlemoney.com)
Category: Insurance
Comments (1)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Sites That Link to this Post