Life Insurance

[DePixeler]

I'm a newb and probably by most standards a low-ish volume cigar smoker (Cbid not withstanding :0 ). Never used cigarettes in my life. So now, when I get to that nice box on the insurance form that asks if I'm a smoker, what do I say? Do they mean cigs? Occasional cigars? 1/day? Should I just deny it? Should I fess up? Am i worrying about nothing?

Any insurance agents on the board?

Thanks!

 

[Brazilla]

Depending on the size of the policy they have different criteria. If you do have to get a physical, they will check your blood for nicotine.

 

[Ginseng]

There's been some good discussion on this topic in the past. Definitely worth your time to do a search.

Wilkey

 

[BlindedByScience]

There's been some good discussion on this topic in the past. Definitely worth your time to do a search.

Wilkey

...yep.

In summary, two points:
- Some insurance companies treat cigar smokers like non-smokers. Shop around.
- Worst case scenario; you lie on your app, you die, they find out you were a smoker after the fact and deny benefits to your beneficiaries. Don't think some companies wouldn't try.

The best part about telling the truth is you never have to remember who you told what lie to.....

Good luck - B.B.S.

 

[jfields]

The best part about telling the truth is you never have to remember who you told what lie to.....

Very nicely put Tom.

 

[DePixeler]

There's been some good discussion on this topic in the past. Definitely worth your time to do a search.

Wilkey

Yeah, my bad. I did search, but have now learned that if I put quotes around the search terms, I don't get pages of irrelevant hits. Once I tried again with the quotes, it got much more specific. lesson learned. And thanks for the tips.

 

[rramstad]

One of the big online quote deals (maybe insure.com, or possibly quotesmith.com) actually asks what kind of tobacco when you fill out the form and check "smoker". When you get your results back, it's pretty funny actually, as the two or three companies that treat occasional cigar smokers as non smokers are way cheaper than the other companies... that's the way I found my term life insurance policy...