Smoker Life Insurance

Smokers and users of other tobacco products often put off purchasing life insurance products due to the fear of sky-high premium costs. Life insurance companies use actuarial data when assessing death rates and setting their premium prices, and it is undeniable that smokers have a lower life expectancy as compared with nonsmokers. This is why smoker life insurance costs more than life insurance for nonsmokers.

Traditionally, insurance companies penalized smokers with much higher premium rates than are found today; sometimes the premiums for smoker life insurance were as much as three times as high as the premiums charged for a comparable nonsmoker. Since these times, the insurance industry has seen an increase in competition; this competitive environment, coupled with the realization that nearly one-quarter of the population of the U.S. uses some form of tobacco, has led to a reduction in the premium rates for smoker life insurance.

Some life insurance companies will distinguish between smokers and users of other tobacco products such as cigars, pipes, and chewing tobacco. In fact, many insurers will rate someone who has a celebratory cigar a few times yearly as an equivalent risk as a nonsmoker, and they will qualify for the same insurance premium rates.

When insurers calculate their rates for smoker life insurance, they will consider the number of cigarettes smoked daily. A smoker who uses two or three cigarettes daily will qualify for lower rates than a smoker who goes through two to three packs each day.

As with almost any type of insurance product, it pays to shop around to find the lowest rates for smoker life insurance. Start by asking your friends, coworkers, and family members if they are satisfied with their life insurance provider, since a personal recommendation is always a good sign. The Internet is another excellent resource to use for finding and comparing insurance providers; some websites allow you to compare rates among a number of providers after you enter your basic information a single time.

Should you eventually find yourself with the willpower to kick your smoking habit, congratulations! Insurance companies will usually lower your insurance premium after you successfully test negative for nicotine, but most will enforce a three to five year waiting period during which you must remain smoke-free before they will reduce your premium.