Smoking and Life Insurance – Protected.co.uk
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How does smoking impact my life insurance?
Unsurprisingly smokers tend to pay more for their life insurance than non smokers. Smoking is hazardous to health, therefore putting you at a higher risk in the eyes of the insurer, and they account for this risk by adjusting the costs involved with covering you.
What constitutes a smoker?
If you’ve used any nicotine or tobacco products within the last 12 months, you’ll usually be classified as a smoker. Even if you smoke occasionally or use nicotine gum, insurance companies will see you as a smoker.
How will the insurer know if I’m a smoker?
When you take out life insurance, you’ll be asked if you’ve used any nicotine or tobacco products in the last 12 months, and you are expected to respond truthfully.
Your insurer may request an examination if you have an existing medical condition. This is required to complete your cover, and could include a test for traces of nicotine.
What if I’m dishonest or lie about being a smoker?
Insurance companies don’t tend to do spot checks on their customers unless they have genuine doubt about a policy.
But if you’re dishonest in your application, you’re putting your loved ones at incredible financial risk.
If any report suggests that you weren’t entirely honest when you applied for your cover, any claims made on the policy could be refused.
Where do insurers stand with e-cigarettes?
The stance differs with most insurers on e-cigarettes. The below chart shows 10 of the top insurers’ policy on nicotine, and nicotine free e-cigarettes. Again, it’s advisable to check with your insurer before taking out a policy.
What if I take up smoking after I’ve taken out my policy as a non-smoker?
Your life insurance premiums are determined at the time you take out your policy. If you took out your policy as a non-smoker, it won’t usually be affected or invalidated if you decide to start smoking at a later date. However, it is advisable to inform your insurer of any changes to your smoking status so they can keep it on file.
What if I give up smoking?
If you have quit smoking for at least 12 months its worth letting your insurer know to see if they can offer you a reduced rate policy.
Can Smokers Find Life Insurance?
It is generally true that individuals who smoke tobacco are either denied life insurance or end up paying more for their policies. Why? Because statistics are clear: Smokers do not live as long as non-smokers.
Life insurance premiums are determined by statistics found on mortality tables. These statistics track how many people die each year and at what ages. It is sad but true that the mortality rate is considerably higher when it comes to tobacco smokers. As a result, life insurance premiums are often 40% higher or more!
While no one likes to think about developing lung cancer — facts are facts. People who smoke cigarettes die at a younger age than those who don’t. Lung cancer was practically non-existent prior to World War II. Then smoking became the fad and everyone wanted to get in on the act. In just one or two decades after World War II lung cancer became a world wide epidemic and remains as such today.
The statistics surrounding lung cancer are depressing — 90% of those diagnosed with this condition end up dying in a relatively short period of time. Yes, lung cancer is almost always a death sentence.
Since any tobacco use on a regular basis will adversely affect an individual’s health, this is reflected in their life insurance premiums. Nicotine is a deadly substance — one drop on your tongue is able to kill a person. As a result, nicotine plays havoc on the human body. It weakens the heart muscle, increases the likelihood of strokes and heart attacks and is a frequent factor in individuals suffering with hypertension.
Here is the good news: Once you quit using tobacco for a period of twelve months, you may be able to qualify for a non-smoker rate with most of the major life insurance companies. When I was quitting smoking I talked to the agents at Goldsmith Insurance Agency and they explained that you can start to get non-smoker rates in as little as one year and definitely at the end of two years of being smoke free. So get started on kicking the habit now and move on to better life insurance rages.
Multiple Sclerosis And Life Insurance
Most people begin planning for retirement and start looking for life insurance policies after they have been in the workforce for a while. Unfortunately, the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis appear before this time. As a result, it can be more than a bit difficult to find an insurance company willing to write them a life insurance policy.
The truth is that people who find themselves with a serious diagnosis such as multiple sclerosis will not be offered the same conditions or options on a life insurance policy that people without such a diagnosis will be offered. However, there are some avenues that are worth exploring. In the business world of insurance, some companies and agents will work with multiple sclerosis patients. We found many locally and know that for many ms patients looking for life insurance InsureNow365.com can help with getting competitive rates.
While the best option for young people is to lock in a policy rate while they are still young and healthy, most don’t do it because they are lost in the exuberance of youth and still believe that nothing bad will ever happen to them. Once a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has been made, young people are faced with the reality that they have a long term problem to deal with. They have to find long term health care as well as life insurance. Unfortunately, all of the insurance problems could have been eliminated if they had sought coverage sooner.
Insurance companies are reluctant to provide coverage because they know that people with this disease will never get better. Because it is progressive, the reality is that their condition will get worse as time goes pay. The final stages of multiple sclerosis leave people very impaired. For an insurance company, the idea of writing a life insurance policy doesn’t make sense since they will certainly lose money and the only type of policy available will have high premiums and come with limited options.
Therefore, anyone who knows that they are at high risk of developing this disease should plan to get life insurance as early as possible. After diagnosis, a savings plan might be the best option to help pay the bills when the disease worsens. The key with life insurance is to plan early.
Do People Over 50 Need Life Insurance?
It is in our human nature to brush off investments they may not directly benefit from such as life insurance for instance. For too many seniors life insurance sounds like a luxury they don’t need and maybe because the advances or returns are acquired only when the insurer dies. But there is another is another perspective to look at it. When you die, you would want a respectable burial to leave you resting in peace and this comes at a hefty cost indeed. Just like any other sector, the prices associated with burials keep inflating by the year and somebody will have to pay for yours. It is a common occurrence to find mourning families in great debt over funeral costs and your beloved ones, do not have to be among the many that find themselves in these situations.
Any responsible being should have enough savings to cover for their departure and this is best facilitated through having a proper life insurance for people over 50 policy that covers a number of death associated costs. For instance, having a policy that caters for permanent disability from illnesses or accidents can go a long way in saving your family some much needed change after your departure. In most cases, death emanates from accidents, injuries or illnesses that leaves one’s fate to the hospital. This is indeed an extra cost as the bills here will have to be cleared as well adding to the misery of your beloved family.
With this in mind, you can actually gauge for yourself the advantages of getting yourself a proper life insurance policy besides the obvious fact that it is cheaper to have one in the long-run. You can acquire a customized policy that fits your budget and needs to avoid straining your wallet. Visit or contact your closest insurance agent or browse through a few insurance websites and request for a free quote from the one that stands out for you.
Life Insurance is For Your Family, Not You
Planning for death is uncomfortable for most people. It is a reminder that the joys of life are fleeting and we are very much mortal. Life insurance may seem like an unnecessary expense that you would rather not incur at this stage in life but this may be a short-sighted and selfish view. Life insurance is not for you. It really is a benefit granted on death to a beneficiary, be it family or friend, to help stop the financial gap your passing created. It may be put to various uses and may just be the tool that saves your family from debt and despair.
The stress of a funeral is only exacerbated when the family of the deceased is informed that arrangements may cost between $5,000.00 and $20,000.00. Very few families are okay with their dearly departed not being given the ceremony they deserve to celebrate their life and most will go to great lengths to ensure this. Even a portion of the smallest life insurance policy would be able to cover funeral expenses and help make this time of grieving less miserable.
When your family has buried you they do not also bury your debt with you. Your debt doesn’t merely die when you do. Families of the deceased are often thrown into debt when trying to pay the debts of their loved ones. Medical expenses, the mortgage on the house they shared with you and even loans will be an uncomfortable burden on those closest to you. Your partner in joint debts may now have more to pay and in individual debts secured by assets may also reduce the value of your estate, leaving your family with less than bargained for. A life insurance policy will be the silver lining of a dark cloud in times like these.
Should your death be an untimely demise, for example in the midst of you putting your children through college or right after you’ve taken out a second mortgage on the house to pay for something else, an insurance policy would also be very helpful. Term life insurance policies are often purchased for these reasons. A term may be for the duration it would take to repay that mortgage or for your children to complete college. This ensures that your family has the financial security they would have had you not passed.
Even if you are not the main breadwinner in your family, more than likely your loved ones counted on your income to contribute to meeting the family’s pool of finances. Life insurance provides them with security in the event you die and the peace of mind that you have their best interests at heart. Knowing that your family is protected even after you pass away will help you, and them, sleep easier at night. Think of your monthly premiums as a small price for that satisfaction and protection.