Will life insurance be cheaper if I stop smoking?
[social_share]Smoking is a health risk, and health risks reflect in life insurance policies.
Smoking does two things with life insurance calculations. Firstly it increases the chance that a person will die an early death, and secondly it reduces the life expectancy at the end of life. Both of these can affect life insurance premiums and they will increase the amount that needs to be paid for the policy.
A person will generally pay reduced life insurance premiums if they claim not to be a smoker, when in fact they are a smoker. But this can be a very dangerous course to follow. If the person dies, or becomes disabled from, a smoking-related disease, the life insurance will be invalidated and the insurance company will not pay out. This can mean that the policy holder’s family will be left without the safety net despite the fact that the premiums have been paid,
Some people have been smokers in the past and the insurance company will ask about this. These questions should be answered honestly as they will also affect the status of the life insurance policy. The ex-smoker should not compare the cost of life insurance to a person who has never been a smoker, but to one who is still a smoker.
Life insurance can be a complex matter. Many life insurance companies will have different rules for smokers, and it is perfectly legitimate to shop around for policies that penalise smokers less.
Smoking tends to affect the premiums of middle-aged and older people more than those of younger people. This also means smoking will affect the premiums of a longer term life insurance policy, as the longer term will be insuring the person at the end of the term and not just at the beginning.
This also goes for being an ex-smoker over being a current smoker. The difference in insurance premiums tends to get larger the older a person gets.
Smoking is not the only lifestyle element that will affect a person’s life insurance premiums. Other aspects include weight and diet, as well as taking part in dangerous sports. By altering any of these elements, the life insurance premiums can be reduced, sometimes dramatically, although quitting smoking tends to have the biggest effect.
