Agent Owner, Gilmore Insurance Services, Marysville, Washington State
Yes, a part of the testing is for nicotine in the system. Some carriers allow for different uses of nicotine products and do not cost as much for coverage as someone who smokes, but still cost more than non smoker rates. This topic is a hotbutton in insurance as the pricing for smoking is significantly greater than nonsmoker rates, the cost differences encourages some people to attempt to deceive on the application. Some states specifically "waive" the two year contestability clause in cases where mistatements about smoking are involved. In my state, they don't even allow the insurance carrier to pay out the benefit at the smoker rate, just return the premiums.
One good thing is if you do smoke and want to quit, you can depending on the company, get a nonsmoker rate after anywhere from 1 year to 3 years after quiting. If you decide to quit smoking, inform your doctor so there is a record on file of this decision and good luck.
Life insurance urine exams test for the presence of cotinine residue a byproduct of nicotine products like cigarettes. There is conflicting opinions about the length of time cotinine needs to dissipate from the body to display a negative cotinine reading and sometimes is used to measure second hand smoke.
President, The Firm of Steven H. Kobrin, LUTCF, 6-05 Saddle River Rd #103, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
Yes, indeed they do. And the test is pretty reliable.
Want to hear an interesting story?
A number of years ago I took an application from a client who disclosed that he did smoke cigarettes on a daily basis. So I quoted him smoker rates. He provided the lab specimens for the insurance exam and we all assumed they would show he was indeed a smoker.
When the results came back, he had tested negative for nicotine – even though he smoked every day! Our assumption was he had a huge tolerance and it just didn’t register in the lab.
So, fair being fair, the underwriter gave him non-smoker rates! And he paid about half as much as he would have as a smoker.
Of course, smokers can’t count on that always happening. They should expect to pay smoker rates. And most smokers hate paying that extra premium for that extra mortality risk. (And by the way - there is a huge amount of data to show that smoking does increase your mortality risk. Sorry.)
So what should a smoker do? Lie on the application? I mean, who is really going to know if you say you don’t smoke, and just go without cigarettes for a few weeks? Your lab specimen should then come out clean, right?
Bad idea. Not good. Don’t do it. That is insurance fraud, you know. You could jeopardize the claim getting paid. Besides which, this is not a game. Life insurance pricing has to accurately reflect the risk obligations taken on. If everybody scammed the system to get undercharged, then odds are the insurance carriers wouldn’t have enough money to pay out benefit. Then everybody’s beneficiaries would lose out.
Not only that: there is something to be said for acting honorably, don’t you think?
Your word should be your bond.
What about postponing the purchase of the policy and waiting a year or two, so you can quit in the meantime and then qualify for non-smoker rates? Well, okay, but who says you’ll be insurable at that point? What if you come down with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar, or any number of things that could throw the rates off? Or even worse, make you ineligible for coverage at all?
Delaying is not worth the risk.
Best thing to do is buy the policy now for the best smoker rates available. Keep it in force. Then, stop smoking. If you qualify for non-smoker rates, go for it. If you are eligible for a better rate, then good for you. But if you are not, then at least you have coverage.
Either way, your beneficiaries will get what they need. Good move.
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One good thing is if you do smoke and want to quit, you can depending on the company, get a nonsmoker rate after anywhere from 1 year to 3 years after quiting. If you decide to quit smoking, inform your doctor so there is a record on file of this decision and good luck.
Want to hear an interesting story?
A number of years ago I took an application from a client who disclosed that he did smoke cigarettes on a daily basis. So I quoted him smoker rates. He provided the lab specimens for the insurance exam and we all assumed they would show he was indeed a smoker.
When the results came back, he had tested negative for nicotine – even though he smoked every day! Our assumption was he had a huge tolerance and it just didn’t register in the lab.
So, fair being fair, the underwriter gave him non-smoker rates! And he paid about half as much as he would have as a smoker.
Of course, smokers can’t count on that always happening. They should expect to pay smoker rates. And most smokers hate paying that extra premium for that extra mortality risk. (And by the way - there is a huge amount of data to show that smoking does increase your mortality risk. Sorry.)
So what should a smoker do? Lie on the application? I mean, who is really going to know if you say you don’t smoke, and just go without cigarettes for a few weeks? Your lab specimen should then come out clean, right?
Bad idea. Not good. Don’t do it. That is insurance fraud, you know. You could jeopardize the claim getting paid. Besides which, this is not a game. Life insurance pricing has to accurately reflect the risk obligations taken on. If everybody scammed the system to get undercharged, then odds are the insurance carriers wouldn’t have enough money to pay out benefit. Then everybody’s beneficiaries would lose out.
Not only that: there is something to be said for acting honorably, don’t you think?
Your word should be your bond.
What about postponing the purchase of the policy and waiting a year or two, so you can quit in the meantime and then qualify for non-smoker rates? Well, okay, but who says you’ll be insurable at that point? What if you come down with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar, or any number of things that could throw the rates off? Or even worse, make you ineligible for coverage at all?
Delaying is not worth the risk.
Best thing to do is buy the policy now for the best smoker rates available. Keep it in force. Then, stop smoking. If you qualify for non-smoker rates, go for it. If you are eligible for a better rate, then good for you. But if you are not, then at least you have coverage.
Either way, your beneficiaries will get what they need. Good move.