Cigar smoking and Life Insurance premiums.

[brigey57]

I recently applied for life insurance and was struck during the agents questionnaire "Do you smoke?" Not if you smoke what type of product do you use, or how often do you smoke, but do you smoke?

I asked the agent if smoking an occasional cigar qualifies as "smoking?"

The response from the agent was "yes" and "do you smoke them frequently" and then "when was the last time you smoked?"

They apparently take a blood sample and determine from the reading the level of nicotine in your blood.

Have any of the brothers recently applied for Life insurance and what was the results? Were you granted insurance at a reasonable cost or did they jack up the premiums just for you? Did you ultimately buy the insurance from that agent/company or did you purchase it with or through someone else?

[MrOneEyedBoh]

Im young at 22 yrs old, I went with a 30 year life insurance policy and they too asked me. At the time I was using dip. They took blood at my home and sent it to the lab. I ended up with the same pricing as the original healthy adult male estimate my agent gave me.

Luck? Maybe so, but i have heard they do jack it up because your more at risk, so to say, than a healthy non-smoking male.

[kydsid]

A staged question deserves a staged answer. And Because I feel that my occasional cigar is not smoking and therefore can honestly answer when asked, 'Do you smoke?', No. And if I haven't had a cigar in a week what are they going to find in my blood?

[MrOneEyedBoh]

Nicotine doenst last long, maybe 1-2 days. Now the by product Cotinine can last for 7-14 days, depending on your smoking habits.

http://www.fbr.org/publications/pamphlets/cotinine.html

This site say ten day, but Id say two weeks to be conservative.. Also keep in mind if you die because of a smoking related death, the insurance company can deny or alter the final end dollar amount they will pay out. This is only if you checked NON-smoker on the application.

Originally Posted by MrOneEyedBoh

Also keep in mind if you die because of a smoking related death

I always laugh at this scenario.

Well, Mrs Smith, we can't pay your Life Insurance settlement because your husband was smoking a cigar when he was struck by lightning on the golf course.....

[MrOneEyedBoh]

No, haha like lung cancer, esophageal etc. Keep in mind they have to directly relate it to smoking.

[wayner123]

I could have went with another insurance agency. ( I hear prudential doesn't consider cigars to be "smoking"), but in the end I went with the company I was more comfortable with. It almost doubled my premiums but IMO it is worth it to keep smoking cigars and to have the added relief.

However, on most plans you aren't required to tell them when you start a new hobby, or smoking etc. And most have a period that after you have been enrolled for XX amount of time, they can't deny coverage for any reason. (mine was 2 years). So unless the agency is coming to test you every year or so, which is VERY rare, you "could" be safe. But is it worth it for your family's sake?

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by kydsid

A staged question deserves a staged answer. And Because I feel that my occasional cigar is not smoking and therefore can honestly answer when asked, 'Do you smoke?', No. And if I haven't had a cigar in a week what are they going to find in my blood?

If they can find proof that you did smoke cigars when you signed up for the insurance then they can get out of paying out the insurance regardless of how you died because you "lied" on your application. This is from a friend of mine who sells insurance.

It's much safer (in terms of Life Insurnance) to say "yes" to the smoking question.

[Blueface]

I think there are a number of prior threads on this subject.

I too listed myself as a moker.
I had been to a massive herf in Chicago and then smoked more that week, prior to bloodwork.
I must have smoked 15 cigars just up to two days before the test.

Result:
My bloodwork came back with as minimal insignificant findings as that of my wife and daughter, neither of which smoke and are seldom if ever exposed to my smoke. Additionally, it was the same result as my son who smokes quite less than I do.

So............agent voluntarily made changes and listed me as non smoker, in spite of plea to leave it as is as I did not want to lie in an insurance application. I made him sign a paper saying I insisted he list me as a smoker and it was his choice not to so I could cover myself if ever an issue.

Just like my case, I have heard many similar ones with cigar smokers. Cigarettes? Totally different ballgame.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by Blueface

I too listed myself as a moker.

Stupid sexy mokers!

[ade06]

I recently purchased life insurance and stated that I smoke cigars occasionally. It did raise my rate, but not by much. I'm glad I stated it on my application, because when the insurance policy pulled my medical records, my last Dr. noted that I occasionally smoke cigars. Fyi, I passed the blook test.

[brigey57]

I did disclose the information to the agent with words like in an effort of full disclosure, I do on occasion smoke cigars. So there is no I didn't disclose the information. Fortunately it is coming off of the Winter.

Originally Posted by CigarNut

If they can find proof that you did smoke cigars when you signed up for the insurance then they can get out of paying out the insurance regardless of how you died because you "lied" on your application. This is from a friend of mine who sells insurance.

It's much safer (in terms of Life Insurnance) to say "yes" to the smoking question.

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by brigey57

I did disclose the information to the agent with words like in an effort of full disclosure, I do on occasion smoke cigars. So there is no I didn't disclose the information. Fortunately it is coming off of the Winter.

Most of the time the agents are considered to be independent agents, meaning that they are working for you, not the insurance company, when they submit your application. That means that the insurance company will tell you that they don't care what you told the agent - it only matters what is on the application. If your agent screws up, you can always sue him for negligence, but it won't be grounds to get benefits that you told the agent something and he decided not to include it on the application. Just wanted to throw that out there...

[brigey57]

Well in that case it won't much matter cause to collect you need to be dead.

Originally Posted by BigCat

Most of the time the agents are considered to be independent agents, meaning that they are working for you, not the insurance company, when they submit your application. That means that the insurance company will tell you that they don't care what you told the agent - it only matters what is on the application. If your agent screws up, you can always sue him for negligence, but it won't be grounds to get benefits that you told the agent something and he decided not to include it on the application. Just wanted to throw that out there...

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by brigey57

Well in that case it won't much matter cause to collect you need to be dead.

Presumably the insurance is purchased to protect your loved ones who aren't dead - the company will deny their claim on the policy and and then they'll have to try to sue the agent.

[Neuromancer]

From what I understand, your blood test will come back clean if you abstain from smoking a cigar or pipe for two weeks before the test...

[brigey57]

You do know that I understand that and my response was said sarcastically or why else would I look to buy Life insurance in the first place? Thank you for clarifying your point...

Originally Posted by brigey57

I did disclose the information to the agent with words like in an effort of full disclosure, I do on occasion smoke cigars. So there is no I didn't disclose the information. Fortunately it is coming off of the Winter.

[Don Fernando]

Originally Posted by brigey57

I recently applied for life insurance and was struck during the agents questionnaire "Do you smoke?" Not if you smoke what type of product do you use, or how often do you smoke, but do you smoke?

It's not just with life insurance. I had surgery done in december and one of the questions with anestetics was "do you smoke?" and not "are you a tobacco user?" which are two completely different things in my book.

[SoCalSmoker]

Here is a previous thread covering this subject.
I posted a link to a site the has great info in post #24
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...surance+cigars

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by brigey57

You do know that I understand that and my response was said sarcastically or why else would I look to buy Life insurance in the first place? Thank you for clarifying your point...

It wasn't clear to me that you were being sarcastic. It's one of the weaknesses of the written word at times. I was merely trying to shed light on an apparently overlooked point.