Are you a tobacco chewer? If you’re thinking about life insurance and are ready to take the next step, it’s likely that you have uncovered how expensive life insurance can be if you are given a smoker classification.
Maybe you don’t consider yourself a smoker, and maybe you don’t feel like it’s fair that you are classified in this way since the premiums are so much more expensive to get you that coverage you need. And to be exact the premiums are 100% to 200% more for tobacco users unless of course, you let us help you find a company that will offer nonsmoker rates. This is where you need an experienced life insurance agency on hand to give you advice and to help point you in the right direction.
Are you a tobacco user?
First of all, you need to determine whether you use any other types of tobacco. If you are a smoker as well, for example, it’s very likely that the life insurance carrier is going to classify you as a smoker. If you only chew tobacco once every so often, however, the carrier might not decide that you are a smoker, which would allow you to get better rates on your life insurance.
Some companies are more lenient when it comes to life insurance for tobacco chewers. They will allow you to use chewing tobacco infrequently as long as your life insurance paramedical exam doesn’t indicate the use of tobacco. Talking to your life insurance agent or agency beforehand is important since you don’t want to find out that you scheduled a paramedical exam the day after you chewed tobacco.
Your paramedical exam tests can be thought of as the company’s way to verify whether or not you’re telling the truth and to clue them into any existing health concerns. As long as your test results are within normal ranges, however, you should be able to obtain affordable life insurance protection. Some carriers are more concerned about whether you smoke cigarettes and use this as a strict guideline for determining your smoker status.
With one company we represent you can test positive for nicotine and still get a non-smoker rate. Although they will start you at standard plus nonsmoker and not preferred, so we like to get you a preferred nonsmoker if we can. However, if you’re like most of our clients you probably don’t want to skip a few days without your favorite chew.
Tobacco Chewing and Life Insurance
There are ways to get non-tobacco life insurance classifications even when you chew tobacco. It really depends on a number of factors, which is why you shouldn’t proceed in purchasing coverage without working with an experienced team on your side. Some people assume they’ll be able to get non-tobacco coverage on their own. So they proceed with their life insurance application and then get their final policy rating back and are shocked to find out that they have been classified as a smoker rate.
These smoker rates can be twice as high as the premiums for a person classified as a nonsmoker, so this is why it’s so crucial to know who to work with and how to proceed with your life insurance application when you are a tobacco chewer.
Here is an example of a 41-year-old client who got a $500,000 30 Year Term Policy with another agency and was paying $307.38/mo. After coming to us we were able to get him the same type of policy for $101.94/mo. (No, this is not a typo) That’s over $200 dollars a month in savings and this is only possible with one or two companies. So shopping around is absolutely crucial!
Can you get nonsmoker rates?
You could be classified as a non-smoker if you rarely use chewing tobacco, but you need to speak with our office to learn more about your particular situation. The reason is that if your test results do indicate nicotine use, the carrier might give you a smoker rating unless we use our go-to company and give them a heads up about your use of chewing tobacco prior to the exam. Different carriers will have different premium rankings depending on smoker versus non-smoker.
If you’re likely to be classified as a smoker, the carrier you apply and are denied nonsmoking ratings with might not be the most competitive company when it comes to smoking status. That’s why you should take this application process seriously and work with a life insurance agency full of professionals from day one. That way, you’re prepared for what to expect and as well-informed as possible when it’s time to get your policy issued.
Life insurance options for people that chew tobacco
Let’s say that you’re interested in a term life insurance policy for 30 years. This type of life insurance coverage is extremely popular with many people because it provides them cost-effective protection during their working years. This is the least expensive option for life insurance and gives you great peace of mind when you are concerned with a mortgage or other costs that your family might have to face if something happened to you.
Spread out over 30 years, the life insurance carrier will quote you a cost for what your premiums will be based on your application. Sometimes life insurance carriers issue ratings that are less than what you applied for. This happens a lot when individuals don’t have the opportunity to work with an established life insurance agency. Assuming that they are selecting the best carrier at a preferred best rating is usually the way that people applying on their own will go, but this might not be the best strategy.
Perhaps that individual has a health problem or something else in their past that might lead that carrier to give them a less favorable rating with higher premiums. In this scenario, the individual might have been better off with the premium that showed up 2nd or 3rd in their quote simply because of how that company viewed their particular issue.
Health risks of chewing tobacco
As you already know there are health risks tied together with chewing tobacco. Chewing tobacco can cause serious health problems in your mouth and teeth. The longer you use oral tobacco the more likely you will have leukoplakia. Not only will chewing tobacco cause cancer but it will stain your teeth and cause bad breath. Just like any other way of getting nicotine chewing it can cause poisoning as well. However, in the eyes of very few companies chewing tobacco is not like smoking cigarettes because you don’t inhale the hazardous smoke. Oh, and if you quit in the future we can get the carrier to evaluate your rate class to get you an even better rate considering all other factors like your health are good.
How to get life insurance if you chew tobacco
You already know that you can purchase a life insurance plan when you’re an active tobacco chewer but you should be aware of the fact that there are a few numbers of companies that will be lenient and give you a non-smoker rate. If you didn’t already know a smoker rate is 2-3 times more expensive than a non-smoker and can easily go from a two digit number to a three digit number monthly. There is a company that we can get you nonsmoker rates with so reach out to one of our agents to learn more.
Can you hide tobacco use from the insurance company?
This is a very common question and if you have this question it is because you are ashamed of your chewing or smoking and that’s totally normal. Honesty is the best policy so don’t lie to your insurance company. Most life insurance companies require that you have a medical exam with blood tests and when they check your blood they will know if there is a presence of nicotine or not. It really isn’t worth getting denied for because the worst that can happen if you tell the truth is that you are getting rated up to a smoker rate. Besides the fact that lying on your life insurance application is considered fraud, it will also become harder for you to find life insurance after you get denied coverage once. Point is, don’t lie on your life insurance it will be worse for you in the long run.
If you go with a no exam policy and don’t disclose your chewing habit you are giving the carrier grounds to deny the claim. You really don’t want your family to be affected by your white lie, if you pass away and the company does their search they have every right to deny the family of your life insurance claim just because you lied and got away with it. You cannot run away from your lies even if you die!
Work with us!
Carriers all use different ways to determine the factors they’ll consider in a life insurance application. Some carriers are friendly towards heart attacks, tobacco chewing, or family histories or certain health issues, but an individual just stepping into the life insurance industry likely wouldn’t know that off the top of their head. That’s why it’s so vital to have a team behind you guiding you towards the most appropriate situation. Depending on your situation, we could most likely get you a nonsmoking coverage. You’ll need to explore whether there are any other factors influencing your life insurance premium. Every month we help dozens of individuals who chew, smoke cigars or e-cigarettes get non-smoker rates, so let us help you too. We have a few select companies we like to use for tobacco chewers. Feel free to call us at 888-492-1967 with any questions or Compare Life Insurance Quotes Online.
