Life Insurance For Cigar Smokers

[El Presidente]

Came across the below in my news feed. Always of interest to members 

 

Life Insurance For Cigar Smokers

If you’re like many cigar smokers, you may have already made the assumption that life insurance companies are automatically going to give you expensive tobacco rates. But guess again. The truth is that you may be eligible for non-tobacco rates, and we are here to help you get the best coverage possible. Several of the best life insurance companies offer non-tobacco rates for cigar smokers, but you have to read the fine print.

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[mbflash80]

Been in the industry 20 years and the last 10 have shown little to no effect on your rates as a cigar smoker...unless you tell your doc you smoke 5 a day...its basically untraceable in urine or blood from what I understand

[PaulPower]

There are a couple of American life insurance companies that will give insurance to cigar smokers. I’ll try and post them here, I just don’t remember who they were


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[TBird55]

42 minutes ago, mbflash80 said:

Been in the industry 20 years and the last 10 have shown little to no effect on your rates as a cigar smoker...unless you tell your doc you smoke 5 a day...its basically untraceable in urine or blood from what I understand

So are you suggesting that we not be truthful with our physicians?   ?

[Duxnutz]

On 8/23/2020 at 11:42 AM, PaulPower said:

There are a couple of American life insurance companies that will give insurance to cigar smokers. I’ll try and post them here, I just don’t remember who they were


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Bueller?

[Fosgate]

I used to be an Insurance/Financial Services agent selling life insurance. Typically if you disclose up front you are only a cigar smoker the underwriters (at least for my company) would often disregard it. However, if you disclosed that you smoked cigarettes they surcharge you and even more if you test positive in your medical screening for tobacco there is not changing to (I'm just a cigar smoker) they hit you hard with a surcharge for tobacco AND failing to disclose. This is why I disclosed to people not to even hang around someone smoking from the time they leave my office to the time they had their medical screening and set the appoinment 30 days out to help flush their system if they had up to that point. But for every 10 that I submitted it seemed 1 would come back positive for tobacco use or other medical condition not disclosed. All I can say is try to be as honest and up front as you can going into it, too often people try to either lie, or "If they don't ask I'm not going to tell". 

[Frozen North]

Up until last December, in Canada. Most insurance companies would not rate you as a smoker if you only smoked cigars. That door closed back then. Too bad, because the cost difference is significant.

[Cep]

Isn't is as simple as dont smoke for a month, get a policy.  ?

 

[SigmundChurchill]

I started smoking cigars AFTER I bought my life insurance policy.

[Fosgate]

14 hours ago, Cep said:

Isn't is as simple as dont smoke for a month, get a policy.  ?

 

Thats what alot think. Depends on how much you smoke, tobacco stains on teeth,fingers, odor on clothing etc. Many think it's just bloodwork when in reality it's what you say, blood,urinalisys, medical records and observation of the nurse or agent. People get caught all the time that think they know how to sneak by and you have to remember it's a business contract with a large amount of $$$ the company losses if you die prematurly.

Here's another catch. So say if you go through the medical screening and you get caught. You get caught and they offer a surcharge rate in which you walk away from. Not so bad, no big deal. But if you are high enough risk and they catch you on the smoking or flat out denying based on lying on your application. If the overall decision is to deny coverage there is a whole different problem for you. You go somewhere else and one of the first questions they ask on the life application is "Have you have ever been denied coverage?" Because you had the medical eval that is now on record and you have no choice but to say yes, If you lie and say no they will find the past screening when they run a medical records check. Either way it will bring you under closer scrutiny and higher chance of them finding something to surcharg or deny you.   

If you've ever told a doctor that you smoke, you had better get it in your records that you quit smoking and stay clean and get your teeth cleaned for at least awhile before applying for life insurance. I once had a physical and had quit smoking cigarretts about 7yrs prior but had gone to smoking a cigar once a month. Told this to my doctor and he said I must have had one recently cause such and such was high in my bloodwork. I had a small corona about 3 weeks prior. 

[PapaDisco]

Coverage for cigar smokers could be profitable for companies that offer it.  Mortality for those who smoke five or fewer cigars a day is about the same as for a non-smoker (just quoting the Surgeon General here).  So if you're an insurance company offering a policy when no one else will, you can charge just a tiny bit more (5%) and it makes a whopping big difference in your bottom line if you make a big enough business focus.

Insurance companies are all about slender margins and very good actuarial data.  And the scaleability of both.  Improving a product margin by just 1 or 2% (let alone 5) has a fantastic affect on the bottom line.  Getting the actuarial data wrong (in a loss direction) is ruinous.  So while cigar smokers would be a big money maker, I'm guessing the safe bet for a mid-level insurance executive on his way up is to steer clear of all smoking.

[SigmundChurchill]

16 hours ago, Fosgate said:

Thats what alot think. Depends on how much you smoke, tobacco stains on teeth,fingers, odor on clothing etc. Many think it's just bloodwork when in reality it's what you say, blood,urinalisys, medical records and observation of the nurse or agent. People get caught all the time that think they know how to sneak by and you have to remember it's a business contract with a large amount of $$$ the company losses if you die prematurly.

 

This is probably a better question for my insurance guy, but how would that work with whole life?  I mean, the cash value part of the insurance is YOUR money.  They cant confiscate that, can they?  

I would think they would just cancel the insurance policy and return your cash value to you, which, if you have had the policy for over a decade, is probably worth more than the policy is anyway.  No?

[Cep]

Interesting.

I recently applied for and was accepted for a 10 year term policy with no physical required. I told them I used to smoke cigs like years ago but havent smoked cigs for years. Initially the policy was a smoker rate, but I then got it changed to non smoker rate. 

It's not a huge policy..   my first ever life insurance. I only got it because my gf bitches about me riding a motorcycle. I guess I cant blame her I've been riding for 2 years and have  broken my collarbone and then my right elbow 

 

But my question is when do they normally require physicals?  Has covid changed things?   

and also when you die do they inspect your body for signs of tobacco use?? My guy says basically once you're approved you can do whatever you want  ? 

 

 

[SigmundChurchill]

29 minutes ago, Cep said:

Interesting.

I recently applied for and was accepted for a 10 year term policy with no physical required. I told them I used to smoke cigs like years ago but havent smoked cigs for years. Initially the policy was a smoker rate, but I then got it changed to non smoker rate. 

It's not a huge policy..   my first ever life insurance. I only got it because my gf bitches about me riding a motorcycle. I guess I cant blame her I've been riding for 2 years and have  broken my collarbone and then my right elbow 

 

But my question is when do they normally require physicals?  Has covid changed things?   

and also when you die do they inspect your body for signs of tobacco use?? My guy says basically once you're approved you can do whatever you want  ? 

 

 

The term policies I have gotten through work have never required a physical, but the ones I have obtained on my own, have.  So physicals are not always required.  The policies from work are usually pretty limited, so that probably plays a role.  They probably looked at your age, the fact that it is only 10 years, and the payout amount, and decided that the risk was low enough that you dont need a physical for this policy.

These companies have 'risk assessment' down to a science.

[DaBoot]

Just got a 20 year term for 500k. I disclosed cigar smoking, to get the lowest rate, they wanted the number to be less than 12 cigars a year. So I said I smoked 11 a year ?. 

[Fosgate]

6 hours ago, SigmundChurchill said:

This is probably a better question for my insurance guy, but how would that work with whole life?  I mean, the cash value part of the insurance is YOUR money.  They cant confiscate that, can they?  

I would think they would just cancel the insurance policy and return your cash value to you, which, if you have had the policy for over a decade, is probably worth more than the policy is anyway.  No?

Typically if your claim is denied they will refund your premium. In fact I've never seen one not refunded. At any rate I would always seek legal action to contest the denial. A denial is often the opinion of the insurance company. A court in a consumer friendly state may decide in favor of the claimant regardless of what the contract says. 

 

6 hours ago, Cep said:

Interesting.

I recently applied for and was accepted for a 10 year term policy with no physical required. I told them I used to smoke cigs like years ago but havent smoked cigs for years. Initially the policy was a smoker rate, but I then got it changed to non smoker rate. 

It's not a huge policy..   my first ever life insurance. I only got it because my gf bitches about me riding a motorcycle. I guess I cant blame her I've been riding for 2 years and have  broken my collarbone and then my right elbow 

 

But my question is when do they normally require physicals?  Has covid changed things?   

and also when you die do they inspect your body for signs of tobacco use?? My guy says basically once you're approved you can do whatever you want  ? 

 

 

Usually smaller figgure policies won't require a medical screening. I forget the $ amount my company requires. Theres also small polices out there refereed to as "No Look" policies. They are smaller amount, don't care whats in your medical records or if you have fatal cancer when signing. They are not cheap but they pay regardless. I discovered that type of policy one day when I was having coffee with local old timers I grew up around and talking to one of them that was having sever medical complications due to brain cancer. He was trying to get into the state insurance pool and was worried his farm would be liquidated and his wife would be stuck with alot of bills and didn't have life insurance to bury him. I grew up weeding his bean fields and hunting onn his land so I went back to management and I was then told about the "no look" policy. I set him up with a small policy, He died 6 months later and I delivered a check to his wife at his funeral. It was enough to pay for all the funeral, casket, plot, headstone, burial expenses and some left over for her to deal with some other debt. 

 

4 hours ago, DaBoot said:

Just got a 20 year term for 500k. I disclosed cigar smoking, to get the lowest rate, they wanted the number to be less than 12 cigars a year. So I said I smoked 11 a year ?. 

Atta boy!