I just got off the phone with an underwriter at Western Reserve Life, having discussed life insurance options for cigar and cigarette smokers. I have done quite a bit of research and written many cases with cigar and cigarette smokers, and am happy to report that Western Reserve Life is now offering their preferred underwriting class (preferred non tobacco) to the occasional cigar smoker.
“Occasional” cigar smoker is limited to 1 celebratory cigar per month or less. In addition, the urine test must be negative for nicotine. This is great news. It is common to see carriers only offer smoker ratings to cigar smokers, puting cigar smokers in the same class as cigarette smokers.
For cigarette smokers, Western Reserve Life is your hands down leader in pricing. For example, a 35 year old, male smoker wants $100,000 20 year term life insurance policy. With WRL, he’ll pay $218 annually. Transamerica comes in at the 2nd best price, at $253 annually. That’s a 16% increase! If you go down to #10 on the price list, you’ll find Northwestern Mutual, coming in at $273. That’s 25% higher! My point is, there are a lot of captive agents out there with Northwestern Mutual who can’t quote the leaders like Western Reserve Life. If you go to one of them, you could easily end up paying 20-30% higher, or more.
Here’s how WRL treats their cigarette smokers. Say you’re trying to quit and are down to a half pack per day. You can qualify today for their smoker ratings. Then, once you quit completely for one year, you can apply for their standard non smoker rating.
You don’t have to fill out a new application or change your policy number. You just have to have your labs redone to prove you are clean (blood + urine). Then your premium will be cut in half, at least. You’ll pay about double to triple the premium for the first year, but that will be a good motivation for you not to touch any more Marlboro’s.
In summary, many agents are not willing to search for the best deal for you, or if they’re a captive agent, are not able to. That’s why you need to talk to an independent agent like me to find you the best life insurance rates for cigarette smokers and cigar smokers. Also see my post about Life Insurance for Cigar Smokers.
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