How Does Smoking Affect Your Life Insurance Policy
We all know the harmful effects of smoking. It is one of the top €killers€ in the United States, being the main cause for lung cancer and heart diseases. Besides your health, smoking can really damage your finances. If you do the math, you'll discover that you spend an important sum of money on cigarettes every year.
Smoking can make things even costly if you are looking for a life insurance policy. Life insurance companies calculate the premiums based on the probability of you dying in the next several years. Smokers being more predisposed to lung cancer and heart problems represent a higher risk for insurance companies and so they will compensate by increasing your rate's price.
A smoker is required to pay premiums that are over 40-100% higher than those for a non smoker. The price rate increase depends also on your recent health history and other factors. In any case, this represents a substantial sum of money that you'll have to pay in order to keep your smoking habit. Considering the fact that cigarettes are harmful to your health you have even less reasons for keeping your habit.
You may think that the insurance company can't know if you smoke or not, but in most situations you'll be asked to take a medical examination. Insurance companies consider you a non smoker if you have given up your habit in the last twelve months, which means that you have never smoked a cigarette during that period.
In some cases, if you haven't been a smoker for too long, your lung radiography won't show traces. But does this entitle you to lie on your application? Certainly not! If you lie, you brake on of your policy's terms and in case you die of a smoking related health issue, or accident (e.g. a fire started by a cigarette) the insurance company will not pay any death benefits. Insurance companies have many ways of proving that you lied on your application, so it is very hard to fool them. Besides this, it is not worth gambling your family's future for the sake of a harmful habit.
Some insurance companies may offer you policies that don't require you to take a medical exam. This means that if you have health problems, you can still get insured. However the premiums for such policies are higher
Quitting cigarettes can be a good way of saving some money on your insurance policy. Besides this, your health and physical condition will greatly improve.
Smoking can make things even costly if you are looking for a life insurance policy. Life insurance companies calculate the premiums based on the probability of you dying in the next several years. Smokers being more predisposed to lung cancer and heart problems represent a higher risk for insurance companies and so they will compensate by increasing your rate's price.
A smoker is required to pay premiums that are over 40-100% higher than those for a non smoker. The price rate increase depends also on your recent health history and other factors. In any case, this represents a substantial sum of money that you'll have to pay in order to keep your smoking habit. Considering the fact that cigarettes are harmful to your health you have even less reasons for keeping your habit.
You may think that the insurance company can't know if you smoke or not, but in most situations you'll be asked to take a medical examination. Insurance companies consider you a non smoker if you have given up your habit in the last twelve months, which means that you have never smoked a cigarette during that period.
In some cases, if you haven't been a smoker for too long, your lung radiography won't show traces. But does this entitle you to lie on your application? Certainly not! If you lie, you brake on of your policy's terms and in case you die of a smoking related health issue, or accident (e.g. a fire started by a cigarette) the insurance company will not pay any death benefits. Insurance companies have many ways of proving that you lied on your application, so it is very hard to fool them. Besides this, it is not worth gambling your family's future for the sake of a harmful habit.
Some insurance companies may offer you policies that don't require you to take a medical exam. This means that if you have health problems, you can still get insured. However the premiums for such policies are higher
Quitting cigarettes can be a good way of saving some money on your insurance policy. Besides this, your health and physical condition will greatly improve.
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