Chew on Higher Life Insurance Rates with Tobacco Habit

For some individuals, getting off of chewing tobacco can be a tough proposition.

Not only is the chew addictive, but given that it is perceived by many in the public to be less of a health threat than smoking, many people continue to use it.

For those individuals interested in acquiring a term life insurance policy, there are a number of requirements that need to be met in order for the policy to go through.

In most cases, insurers want to be sure you are relatively healthy prior to issuing you a policy. Keep in mind that premiums are focused on your lifestyle and also what your medical history says about you.

An individual's premium will be based on the person's age, gender and also their occupation. It should not come as any big surprise that tobacco usage has always been a red flag to insurers when someone applies for term life coverage.

Tobacco usage in any manner will obviously set you apart from those individuals who don't use. Some insurers do not distinguish between the form and frequency of one's tobacco usage.

To best describe this, if you are an individual who smokes a cigar from time to time you will be looked at the same as the person who puts away two or three packs of cigarettes on a daily basis. While this likely seems unfair to most people, some insurers will make the distinction.

The key is to locate the insurer who will make the distinction between the occasional tobacco user and the hardcore user. These insurers will make a distinction between the use of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, pipes, smokeless tobacco and more. In the event you smoke marijuana, you need to disclose that you use drugs with your application form.

In the eyes of the insurer, smokers typically miss work more often than non-smokers as a result of respiratory problems. Ailments like high blood pressure, heart attacks, emphysema and lung cancer are also tied to nicotine usage. There have also been reports linking heavy tobacco usage and Alzheimer's disease.

For those smokers who have attempted to acquire term life insurance before, it is likely that you were dealing with higher premiums.

In many cases, smokers or nicotine users are currently eligible for 10, 15, 20 or 30 year term periods at reasonable rates.

The best advice for people falling into this description is to get a number of quotes and see how insurers go about charging for tobacco users.

While rates are still oftentimes higher for tobacco users, there are ways with a little work on your part to track down more affordable rates in order to protect you and your loved ones.