Life Insurance for Cigar Smokers, Pipe Smokers, and Smokeless Tobacco Users

No need to pay smoker rates on life insurance coverage, there is good news if you’re smoking pipes and cigars, and smokeless tobacco users who want to qualify for life insurance without paying the same high premiums as cigarette smokers. This also goes for vaping or e-cigarettes and marijuana use. Here, we discuss life insurance for smokers (cigar and pipes) and smokeless tobacco (dip and patches).

But first the not-so-good news about life insurance and health for nicotine users of all types. 

Life insurance is one of the most important safety nets that you can ever buy for your family. It’s vital that they have the insurance protection they need in case something tragic happens to you.

We know that finding the perfect life insurance plan can be a long and difficult process, but it doesn’t have to be. We are here to help.

Standard Rates For Cigar And Pipe Smokers, Chewers And Nicotine Patch Users

It can be difficult for tobacco chewers, cigar and pipe smokers, and nicotine patch users to get affordable rates for quality life insurance if you are not going to the right company. And regretfully, there are no non tobacco cigars on the market that we’re aware of.

This can be a shock to many who assume that if they have moved from cigarettes to cigars or they have quit smoking and are using a nicotine patch that they will pay lower life insurance premiums than if they were still smoking cigarettes.

The fact is that many, if not most, life insurance companies place individuals who use these products into the same rating categories as life insurance for smokers. This may not seem fair, but there is no doubt that these products present a significant danger to your health, and life insurance companies see the use of nicotine in any form as an increased health risk.

Increased risk generally translates to increased premiums. Life insurance companies that rate tobacco chewers, cigar, and pipe smokers, and nicotine patch users the same as smokers are not necessarily out of line in this seemingly harsh assessment. The hazards of these nicotine products are well-documented but there are ways to get life insurance for cigar smokers, pipe smokers, or smokeless tobacco users at rates much lower than smoker rates even when there are no non tobacco cigars or pipes to satisfy your habit.

Tobacco Use and Your Health

The list of health problems associated with the use of smokeless tobacco products can be surprising. According to the American Cancer Society smokeless tobacco is a less-lethal alternative to smoking, but less lethal is a far cry from safe.

If you dip or chew tobacco, or take part in occasional pipe smoking, you get about the same amount of nicotine as a smoker, in addition to 30+ chemicals that are known to cause cancer.

The use of smokeless tobacco is linked to cancers of the mouth, tongue, cheek, gum, esophagus, and pancreas. Smokeless tobacco causes a host of mouth and tooth problems including gum disease, cavities, tooth decay, bone loss, and leukoplakia (the grey-white patches that develop in your mouth where you place your chew or dip and often turn into cancer).

The list of maladies goes on: heart disease, high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attack, and stroke. Many people say that they use a smokeless tobacco product as a way to quit smoking.

The American Cancer Society website pronounces in bold print that there is no proof that any smokeless tobacco products help smokers quit smoking. Even if chewing or dipping does help some people quit smoking cigarettes, these habits are serious, highly-addictive health risks themselves.

What about occasional Pipe Smoking or Cigar Smoking?

Many people believe that their cigar or pipe smoking habit does not carry the same risks as cigarettes. They think that since they only smoke one or two cigars a day and do not inhale, or do not inhale as much as when they smoke cigarettes, that their health risks and level of dependence have significantly decreased.

This does not seem to be true. According to WebMD, “even if you don’t inhale, you can get a number of different cancers from smoking pipes and cigars. People who smoke cigars regularly are four to 10 times more likely than nonsmokers to die from cancers of the mouth, larynx, and esophagus.

Oral cancer can develop anywhere the smoke touches, including the lips, mouth, throat, and tongue. People who inhale also increase their risk for cancers of the lung, pancreas, and bladder.” Many just don’t understand that occasional pipe smoking health risks can be deadly. Is a smokers best pipe tobacco worth the risk of a cancer diagnosis?

The January 2010 Action on Smoking and Health fact sheet states that the “smoke of cigars is more alkaline than cigarette smoke and dissolves more easily in saliva. Therefore, the desired dose of nicotine is achieved without the need to inhale the smoke into the lungs. Cigars are capable of providing high levels of nicotine at a rate fast enough to produce clear dependence, even if the smoke is not inhaled.”

Even if cigars and pipes can be considered lesser evils than cigarettes, they are not that much less evil. On the other hand, getting affordable life insurance for cigar smokers, pipe smokers, or smokeless tobacco users can be obtained if you know which life insurance company to approach.

How Life Insurance Companies Respond to Smoking Pipes and Cigars

Life insurance companies generally place nicotine patch users into the same category as cigarette smokers. Even though you may be making an effort to quit smoking and end your nicotine dependency, your nicotine patch use still represents a health risk that must be considered when insurance companies place you into a risk category. 

A nicotine habit is a serious health problem no matter how the nicotine is getting into your body. And patch users are always a risk to slip back into their old habit of smoking cigarettes.

Every insurance company is different, and all of them have different medical underwriting that you’ll have to go through during the application. That means that you can get drastically different rates depending on which company you choose, especially as a cigar smoker.

Each company is going to view your cigar smoking differently. Some companies are going to give you smoker’s rates, while others will give you an affordable policy. It’s easy to see why it’s so important to receive dozens of quotes before you pick the one that works best for you. The bottom line is it can be easy to find cheap life insurance for smokers (not cigarettes) if you simply know where to look.

Here’s the difference between smoker rates and non-smoker rates for a male and female in good health looking to purchase a $500,000 20-year term policy:

Now back to the good news.

You can spend a lot of time shopping around the life insurance marketplace to find the right insurer or contact us at Ogletree Financial Services today.

We represent multiple life insurance carriers that do not rate all tobacco chewers, cigar, and pipe smokers, and nicotine patch users as smokers. We have obtained affordable policies for many such clients through these respected companies.

Use the term quoter on this page to get a quote, but choose standard non-tobacco rates and look for Lincoln and Prudential. These carriers will not rate you as a smoker. In just a few minutes you will be on your way to getting the life insurance coverage you and your family need.  

Here is the difference in rates between a preferred non-smoker and a standard non-smoker for that same $500,000 20-year Term Policy:

You do have Options!

If you’re looking for the most affordable life insurance policy, a term life insurance policy is going to be the best option.  Term insurance can be purchased in 10, 15 20, 25 and 30 year term duration. 

Just keep in mind that after the term length you choose, your policy will expire unless you convert the policy to universal life, indexed universal life or whole life insurance policy.  You can also re-apply for a term life insurance policy but you will have to go through the underwriting process again.

Because these plans are term life policies, they are going to be much more affordable than other forms of life insurance. Be aware that most companies will require a medical exam for life insurance.

Another popular form of life insurance is a traditional whole life insurance policy. As you can guess from the name, these plans are permanent coverage, which means that as long as you pay the monthly premiums, you’ll have life insurance.

If you don’t want to have to worry about reapplying for life insurance, or losing coverage in the future, these are a great option. A unique benefit to these plans is that they have cash value and possibly dividends growing inside of the policy, and the longer that you pay the monthly premiums, the more value is inside of the plan. You can use this value to invest or pay the monthly premiums when you’ve paid the premiums long enough.

You can’t predict the future, which means that you shouldn’t wait any longer to get the life insurance that your family needs. If you’ve ever been told that you’ll get smokers rates because you use nicotine patches, smoke cigars, or smoke a pipe, don’t believe it. Life insurance for smokers at non-smoker rates is within your reach.

Speak with an agent at 1-800-712-8519

Frequently Asked Questions