Can Smokers Get Term Insurance Policy?

The statutory warning, ‘smoking is injurious to health’ is one slogan that we have often hear or read. We all know that smoking is harmful to health, however, people still smoke. Some habitual smokers find it extremely difficult to quit smoking. Smoking leads to respiratory illness, affects the quality of life and is somewhere one of the major reasons for cancer.

Statistics Say!

The tobacco is the foremost cause of demise and disease across the globe. As per the data shared by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-India, our country is a shelter to more than 27 crore users of tobacco and globally it stands at second into the production and consumption of the tobacco products.

With the accessible estimates in India depict that smoking-attributable yearly demises were about 930,000 and the smokeless tobacco attributable yearly demises are about 350,000, which in together accounts nearly 1,280,000 demises every year and 3500 demises every day approximately.

Understanding Smoking and Life Insurance Premiums

To begin with, smoking is not only harmful to health but at the same time it also the impacts the life insurance policy premium. As per the various life insurers’ rules of underwriting, the premium of the policy of the customer's life cover is affected by the smoking habits more than the job profile.

The life insurance premium for individuals with low-risk job profile is lower when compared to those individuals with a high-risk job profile. The life insurance companies have also slit the customers into two segments namely the smoker and non-smoker. As per the underwriting rules and the risk-profiles, the smoker with a low-risk job profile will pay more premium when compared to the non-smoker in the high-risk job.

Wondering how smoking has an impact upon the life insurance premium than the high-risk job profile is a proven smoking effect upon the health of the people. Undoubtedly, smoking is a prominent reason for a plethora of critical diseases such as heart ailments, strokes, cancer, tuberculosis, etc. People who have a high fatality rate end up paying a high life insurance premium. People who are average smoker pay 50% more premium for the life insurance plan when compared to a non-smoker. The monthly life insurance premium for someone who smokes is about Rs 650 to Rs 850, which is more than for the non-smoker.

Calculating the Premium for the Smokers

To assess the life insurance premium for the smokers, the insurance company will question about the frequency of tobacco usage in the past month. This would include the use of cigarettes, cigars or even chewing the tobacco. On the premise of the information given, the insurance company then determines whether the policy seeker is an occasional or a seasoned smoker.

When considering the other rules of underwriting, the insurance company determines to load the premium of the life insurance policy. In case you smoke and plan to buy the life insurance policy, then you need to disclose the same and provide all the correct information without the fear to pay high premiums sum. There will be times when a certain insurance company would want the policy seeker to undergo the medical test before issuing the life insurance policy. One might lie verbally but is not possible to cover up the nicotine traces in a medical test even when you are the occasional smoker.

Secure Life at Cost-effective Premium

Undoubtedly, smoking is not a healthy habit; however, it has become a vital part of everyone's life. One of the easiest and simple ways to protect the financial future of the family in case of your absence is by investing in a term insurance plan. It is generally noticed that smokers are not comfortable buying a term life insurance planning stating high premium being the primary reason for denial.

To cater to the problem of denial of the life insurance premium for the smokers, some of the life insurance companies offer term insurance plans with sufficient sum assured at cost-effective prices.

The Bottom Line

Today most of the people smoke therefore it becomes prudent to have a life insurance plan as the probability of the smoker passing away early is higher than the non-smoker. There are insurance companies in the market who have introduced term insurance plans for smokers. There are times when the customers do not give the correct information to the insurance company in regards to smoking habits. In case of a term insurance plan, a health check-up is the pre-requisite that will eventually reveal the truth. Besides if the insurance company find it out later, it will only complicate the policy claim, once the policyholder passes away.

The habit of smoking is addictive and it is difficult when it comes to quitting. Smoking reduces the life span of the person or leads to critical ailments. Smoking is an open invitation to ailments and death.