Insurance question

[kingy]

Currently I smoke approx. 2 to 3 cigars per week. I have never been a cigarette smoker. When filling out insurance questionnaires should I declare smoker or non smoker?

[westg]

Only you can answer that

[Dara]

I smoke 5 to 6 a month on average and a consultant told me I did not consume enough tobacco to be medically classified as a "smoker", but thats not to say an insurance company would see it that way.

My brother gave up smoking cigarettes about 8 years ago and when he remortgaged his house to put an extension on it he ticked the non smoker box and they sent a nurse out with a test to see was there any nicotine in his system (apparently it can be detected for up to a month he was told) and he had to do some lung capacity test before they accepted him as a non smoker for his life insurance for the mortgage....that was all because he'd ticked smoker 10 years ago when he took out the mortgage!

The problem comes when you try to insure your cigar collection as all the insurance companies talk to each other.........

[sheppsea]

I would declare that you are a smoker - the fact is even smoking little is still smoking

Personally I would rather pay more for the premium than not be covered for any reason it I needed to make a claim

[kingy]

Think you are probably right. Better to declare it, just in case. Thanks.

[Zigatoh]

Think the last one I filled in had something about using any tobbaco related product in the last two years meant smoker

[kingy]

The crafty buggers would probably find this thread if I ever made a claim!

[DoubleDD]

Life or health insurance? Insurance companies complete blood tests and oral swabs to detect nicotine. If you lie on a life insurance app they can deny benefits, depending on the lie. Just tell the truth. Ask your agent what the company means by tobacco use. Some companies are less strict. The worse thing they can do if you use tobacco is raise premiums. Term life is always cheaper than whole life. Many people think whole life is a great investment tool. Not really. Do what is best for your situation. Remember, life insurance doesn't benefit you, but those left behind.

[asmartbull]

Most companies when speaking of smoking are referring to cigs...that said many companies have changed the phrase to tobacco use. There is also a difference between heath and life companies. Without getting into the weeds, if you die within the first 2 yrs of a life policy, it will be in investigated. After 2 yous you are golden.

If in the first 2 yrs they decide you lied on the application and would have still issued the policy with a higher premium, they will reduce the payout by the difference in premium....As far as health, the sharing of medical records with the government makes the answer to this very important and could come back to haunt you in other areas of your life yrs from now. Talk to an insurance broker, as decisions like this should not be made with info based of folks you don't know on a cigar board.

Remember most companies can't come back and change a policy one issued and read the policy for exclusions

sent while mobile....

[liger930]

Well stated Bull.. i too had always wondered how to go about it

[stargazer14]

I just got new Blue Cross insurance,

the only question related was they asked me if I used tobacco products 'more than 5 times per week'.

Thats it.

[Stogiedude3]

I just got new Blue Cross insurance,

the only question related was they asked me if I used tobacco products 'more than 5 times per week'.

Thats it.

That is exactly what they asked me a couple months ago when I applied for a different company.

[Drguano]

Good question best answered by the insurance company. At first I thought this was going to be about an old urban legend:

A cigar smoker bought several hundred expensive stogies and had them insured against fire. After he'd smoked them all, he filed a claim, pointing out that the cigars had been destroyed by fire. The company refused to pay, and the man sued. A judge ruled that because the insurance company had agreed to insure against fire, it was legally responsible. So the company paid the claim. And when the man accepted the money, the company had him arrested for arson.

[vitruvius]

Think you are probably right. Better to declare it, just in case. Thanks.

Not so fast. I was facing the same dilemma a few months ago. I smoke roughly 1 cigar per week and decided to come clean when shopping for a life insurance. Turns out whether you are considered a smoker or not can depend from one company to another. I chose the company that considered me a non smoker.

Smoking cigars is not the same as smoking cigarettes. You ingest much less nicotine due to the fact that you do not inhale the smoke. And there are no dangerous additive in hand rolled cigars.

[Nedule]

I'm in the insurance industry, & the last thing you want to do is lie or not disclose something major like that. When it comes time to collect they could decline coverage. My suggestion is to find a good broker to find you a company that has tolerance to cigar smoking. Some companies have more tolerance than others, some have zero.

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[Fosgate]

I also worked as an Agent for an insurance company and as Nedule said best not to lie. People would check no and then when the urinalysis report came back with a higher rate was typical. There is a nice little clause that protects insurance companies from people trying to hide information that affects coverage and rate called "failure to disclose". Typically they can rerate or drop you upon discovery. If you press the issue or you get money back on a related claim and you can be charged criminally for insurance fraud if you knowing and purposely with held the information. I have seen it happen but not often. Most people get the hint when they try to bully an adjuster into paying a false claim and the adjuster mentions charging them with fraud.

[Nedule]

FYI - google nicotine half life before you do a medical & piss test

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[MrGinger]

Currently I smoke approx. 2 to 3 cigars per week. I have never been a cigarette smoker. When filling out insurance questionnaires should I declare smoker or non smoker?

Why don't you ask the insurance company how they would classify you? Why take the risk?

[Ken Gargett]

Why don't you ask the insurance company how they would classify you? Why take the risk?

agreed. i rang mine years ago and told them i had occasional cigars but had never had a cigarette in my life. they said, no problem.

[kingy]

Ok so it would seem that occasional cigar smokers are defined as non-smokers for insurance purposes. However, "Occasional" is defined as 12 per year. How they arrive at this arbitrary number has no grounding in risk or increased likilihood of illness.

I guess the best option is to declare myself as an occasional cigar smoker and if anything happens tell the wife to hide all the cigars and tell the investigator I was celebrating that week and had three of my 12 for the year in quick succession.

Lets hope they don't check credit card records.

[LGC]

Check out this webpage regarding half-life:

http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/57/1/79.full