I’ m gonna level with ya. If you’re looking for life insurance for smokers, whether it be cigarette, cigar, or pipe smokers, it’s likely you’ve run into rates that are DOUBLE even TRIPLE the premiums non-smokers pay.

WHEW! Now that’s not what you want to hear.

The good news is there are some life insurance carriers whose niche is offering the lowest premiums for cigarette smokers…

…and  still others that offer Non Tobacco ratings for people who are cigar and pipe smokers.

Finally, there are even a few carriers that offer Non Tobacco ratings to e-cigarette or even Marijuana users!

The trick is to figure out which company is right for YOU.

This is where the advice of an independent agent such as Huntley Wealth becomes indispensable! 

…because life happens while you are making plans! 

I have a client that had 4 beautiful, young children – and one day he just didn’t come home. 

Sadly he had a heart attack at the age 57. There were no warning signs. He was athletic and ate well. The thing is, you don’t always know what is lurking around the corner. 

This gentleman, in my opinion, is a TRUE superhero.

He took the time to plan for his family and now his children will have enough money to attend university and his wife didn’t have to sell their family home to satisfy his debts. 

Which brings me back to the advice I mentioned above. If you are looking for life insurance for smokers…

…your best bet is to take the amount of insurance you need right now, while you’re healthy. 

Then try to quit smoking. 

After one year of no tobacco use, as long as you’re still healthy, you can apply for a new policy and get standard non tobacco rates with most carriers. 

This will cut your premiums in half.  Then for each year you stay away from cigarettes, you climb the ladder of rates available to you, starting with Standard Plus after 2 years, then Preferred after 3, then Preferred Plus after 3 – 5 years with most carriers.

So, attention all cigarette smokers who are getting ripped off on life insurance.  Here’s an incentive…quit now, and after 12 short months, you may just get the same rates as your non smoking, athletic neighbor!

Some life insurance companies are even more competitive, and offer reduced premiums at earlier intervals after you have quit smoking.  

All you have to do is replace your policy or apply for a ‘health class reconsideration’. The savings you derive after being tobacco free year for a year can be quite significant! 

When I caught word that this company was issuing smokers life insurance for occasional users at non tobacco rates I sent out the following request: 

“I have a proposed insured, 42 year old male, preferred plus in all regards. Recently I got him a 1 Million term policy, but he got rated at preferred smoker due to admitting to smoking 5 to 10 cigarettes per year at social gatherings.  Can we get a non tobacco rating with you?”

The same day, I received an email back that stated the following, from a company underwriter:

“With a negative specimen, any of our non tobacco classes would be possible.  I would request a quote on these cases, because every situation is different and depending on frequency and type of tobacco we may have different ratings. Thank you!”

So there you have it! A tentative offer from the company underwriter.

*Update March 10, 2016 – yep, this is still true!  It’s possible to get a Preferred rating  if you smoke 12-24 cigarettes per year. Not only that, it’s possible to obtain a Preferred Plus rating if you smoke up to 12 cigarettes annually!  Please take note – you need to qualify for the above mentioned ratings health wise of course.

These rates aren’t published anywhere. To find out more call you need to call us today at 877-443-9467. 

After you share your smoking habits with us, we can send an email to this company for a quick pre-approval.

If you’re an occasional cigarette user and are just shopping for your first policy, don’t bother with the quote form on the right. 

Just call us and we’ll give you the a quote by phone. 

Please note the A+ company offering these non smoker rates offers various term policies and guaranteed universal life insurance policies as well.

Save Money by Replacing Your Current Policy

If you’ve purchased a policy in the past 10 years and were classified as a smoker due to infrequent cigarette use, please call us right now. Replacing smokers life insurance with a Non Smoking policy may save you up to 50% in your premiums, depending on your age and how long you’ve had the policy.

There are a few carriers that are trailblazers in the non-cigarette tobacco category. 

VOYA and American General, for example, offer their Best Rating (Preferred Plus) to responsible tobacco users.  I’ve also seen Preferred offers from Banner Life. 

Then there’s Lincoln Financial, a company with great 30 year term life insurance rates. They allow up to 24 cigars per year and still offer their preferred non tobacco rating.  Of course, your urine analysis (HOS) must test negative for nicotine to get this rate. 

This is great news for cigar users, because some people don’t want to buy life insurance from American General right now, even though they allow a cigar per week!  Lincoln  is a great alternative for them.

That being said, the best choice for life insurance for cigar smokers may be Prudential.

Not only do they allow unlimited cigars, chew, and pipe smoking – but you can even test positive for nicotine and still get a non tobacco rating.  It’s important to note, that Prudential’s non tobacco rating for these tobacco users is usually more expensive than other carriers’ preferred non tobacco ratings.

But it’s still better than paying tobacco rates!

As you can see, most life insurance carriers do not distinguish between the man who smokes the occasional Padron and the guy who smokes two packs of cigarettes per day. 

This is important because if you smoke cigars and are looking for smokers life insurance, you need to know where to look, or you’ll run the risk of being lumped into the same “tobacco user” category as the daily cigarette smoker.

Which means you’ll shell out two to three times more than a “non-tobacco user”.

Nicotine, or the metabolized form of cotinine, is known to cause a rise in blood pressure, which can have adverse health effects such as an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Also the new e-cig industry is not highly regulated and some of these vaping products also use flavoring agents to enhance their appeal to users, which contain a variety of chemical compounds.

The health risks posed by electronic cigarettes are not fully known.

According to M. Brad Drummond, MD of Johns Hopkins “E-cigarettes may be less harmful than cigarettes,” Drummond says. “But we still don’t know enough about their long-term risks or the effects of secondhand exposure.” Web MD 

As many as 9 out of 10 life insurance underwriters  rate e-cigarettes in the same manner as any other type of traditional tobacco product.

…But, don’t be discouraged.  

Not all life insurers are the same.

Some companies are much more lenient than others. At the time of this writing, insurance companies are in the process of ongoing reconsideration of e-cigarettes. 

Prudential will possibly offer a non-smoking rating for those that indulge. 

…and as we learned in the cigar-smoking chapter, they also allow you to test positive for nicotine in your urine!

Another problem life insurers have to overcome is the blood test required for the medical exam. The insurer is looking specifically to find evidence of cotinine which indicates that you are using or ingesting products that contain nicotine.

Insurers are unable to differentiate between whether you are consuming regular tobacco products or are just restricting yourself to vaping. Either way, they view ingesting nicotine as being harmful in and of itself.

If you are looking for the cheapest life insurance for smokers then give us a call at Huntley Wealth and we can go through your options. 

If you are using e-cigarettes – especially if you are only an occasional user, the best way to find the most affordable rates is though an independent life insurance agent.

Independent agents, such as Huntley Wealth & Insurance Services, have access to dozens of life insurance companies.

We know which are more liberal and provide the best rates for consumers of electronic cigarettes or for other pre-existing health issues. 

We also keep up with the myriad changes that occur throughout our industry, as carriers constantly evaluate and adjust their underwriting guidelines as personal habits change.

If you are only an occasional user of electronic cigarettes, there are some life insurers which will give you a better rating than others. 

You don’t want to go with a company that lumps all tobacco or alternative vaping users into the same category – whether you use the products regularly or infrequently.

At Huntley Wealth we are proud to say we find cheap life insurance for smokers! 

NOTE: if you cease smoking or using electronic cigarettes completely for at least 1 year, we can set you up with a life insurance company that will be happy to re-evaluate your health situation. The best part? It’s very likely your premiums will be reduced after review! 

Not all companies do this, but an independent agent such as myself, knows which companies are more liberal in when it comes to smoking related ratings. 

As of this writing, we have 14 companies that will consider any and all marijuana use as Smoker’s rates.  However, we currently have 6 carriers that will consider Non Smoker’s rates from Standard, all the way to Preferred Best, depending on the frequency of use.

In a nutshell, if you don’t it’s fraud!

Secondly, if you die within two years of the policy date, the insurance company is entitled to investigate before paying the death benefit. 

They will pull medical records and if they find THC in them, they have grounds to deny the claim, since you made a material misrepresentation on the application. 

Obviously they would have denied your coverage with this information or denied you altogether.

So what if you are smoking marijuana with a prescription?  

In this case, you are much more likely to see non tobacco ratings.  The bigger issue here will be the underlying medical condition that the marijuana has been prescribed as a treatment. 

Looking for life insurance for pot smokers – term life insurance for smokers or the cheapest life insurance for smokers? 

We’ve gotcha covered my friends. 

No matter what your situation, we can help you find a solution.  

If you are looking for life insurance for smokers today, simply use the quote form to your right, or call us directly at 877-443-9467 and we will be happy to help you find the coverage you need. 

Your Turn

What did you think about our “life insurance for smokers” article?  Did you learn something new?  Agree or disagree?

Let us know in the comments.