If you are looking for smokers’ life insurance quotes, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that most insurers charger higher policy premiums for tobacco users than for non-users.
Most life insurance policies pay fairly high death benefits, and because smokers have a relatively high chance of death as compared to non-smokers, they must pay higher rates for the same amount of coverage. Read also: Life is Tricky, Term Life Insurance is Not.
How Does Smoking Affect Your Premiums?
Many insurance companies have a special risk category for tobacco users with premiums that are about 20 percent higher than average. Insurance providers use actuarial statistics to set insurance premiums, however, so tobacco use might affect your premiums very differently depending on your age, occupation, overall health and other factors.
To find out how your smokers’ life insurance quotes differ from the quotes you’d receive if you didn’t use tobacco, you can look up quotes. By quitting your tobacco use, you might be able to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars off of the total cost of your life insurance policy.
Ways To Lower The Cost Of Your Life Insurance Without Quitting
If you’re not ready to quit smoking, you can use smart buying habits to try to keep your premiums in line. Try comparing a few different insurance quotes to find an affordable provider. Don’t lie about your smoking habits on your quote applications. Most life insurance companies exclude payouts when applicants give misleading information.
You should also consider different types of insurance policies. Many smokers cannot afford permanent life insurance policies such as whole or universal life, but most can afford term life insurance policies, which have much lower premiums on average. Read also: Protect Loved Ones with Family Insurance.
When buying term life insurance, remember the following tips:
- A longer term means higher premiums, but lower long-term costs overall. You should try to buy a policy with a term that will completely fulfill your life insurance needs. For example, if you will need life insurance until you are 65 and you are currently 45, a 20-year policy will cost less than two 10-year policies.
- Some terms such as a double indemnity can increase the cost of your policy. Make sure to read through your contract to avoid overpaying for coverage that you don’t need.
- Your overall health affects your insurance rates, and even if you smoke, you can find ways to lower your risks. Staying in shape and scheduling a medical examination can lower your premiums.
- Make sure to buy an appropriate amount of coverage. If you select too much coverage, you’ll pay excessively high premiums, so take the time to sit down and select a plan that makes sense given your household’s annual expenditures and the average funeral costs in your area.
- Life insurance companies interpret death statistics in very different ways, so comparing smokers’ life insurance quotes is unquestionably one of the best ways to find an affordable policy.
Smokers are certainly high-risk prospects for insurance companies, but you can find affordable smokers’ life insurance with some effort and a good understanding of how life insurance works.
