If you vape, almost every major insurer will evaluate you as a smoker. That’s partially due to the lack of familiarity life insurance companies have with vaping; most of them classify e-cigs as a tobacco device because vape juice can contain nicotine, which providers test for during the life insurance medical exam.
Full Answer
Can I get life insurance if I vape?
We are experts in vaping life insurance and understand all underwriting guidelines for companies that are okay with vape. We will help you secure the best non-tobacco rates on the market by matching your health and vaping habit with the insurance company that will view your profile the most favorable.
Do life insurance companies consider vapers to be smokers?
This has put the vast majority of life insurance companies in the camp of considering vapers to be traditional smokers. In other words, life insurance companies don’t differentiate between vaping and smoking – it’s all considered to be smoking, and subject to higher premiums. In May 2016, the FDA made a definitive judgment in regard to vaping.
Do life insurance companies test for nicotine?
Yes, life insurance companies will test for nicotine. It’s a standard test for any life insurance policy since smokers pose a higher risk of premature death than non-smokers.
Can you get life insurance if you smoke e-cigarettes?
There is currently one life insurance company offering their Standard Plus non-smoker rates to e-cigarette users with the stipulation that there’s been no “regular” cigarette use in the past 12 months. With that said, they allow you to be positive for nicotine or cotinine in your life insurance medical exam and still get these non-smoker rates.
Can life insurance tell if you vape?
Life insurance providers generally don't separate vaping from regular cigarette smoking. If you use e-cigarette or vaping products, expect that the provider will designate you a smoker, just like if you used traditional tobacco.
Do they test for nicotine when getting life insurance?
Many insurers also require that you undergo a medical exam before buying coverage. During this medical exam, it's likely you'll be given a nicotine test. This may be a urine test, blood test, or saliva test. It's also possible to do a hair test for some substances.
How long does nicotine stay in your blood after vaping?
Nicotine shows up in blood tests, as do its metabolites, including cotinine and anabasine . Nicotine itself may be present in the blood for only 48 hours, while cotinine may be detectable for up to three weeks.
How long do you have to quit smoking to get life insurance?
Typically applicants must have refrained from smoking cigarettes for at least 12 months before applying for life insurance to qualify for nonsmoker rates at most companies. To get the best rates, you'll need to have been smoke-free for about five years.
Does insurance test nicotine or tobacco?
A: Most of the life insurance tests look for cotinine rather than nicotine. That's because the former is detectable in the system for a longer period of time than the former. As for how long cotinine can be detected in your system: that depends on two things. One is the the kind of tobacco product you use.
How do insurance check for smoking?
Traces of nicotine can be detected in your blood, urine, hair, and saliva. The length of time nicotine stays in your system depends on how often you smoke, age, and general health condition. Insurers ask about your smoking habits, when you sign up for a health insurance plan. The common questions are: Do you smoke?
What happens to your life insurance if you start smoking?
If you already own a life insurance policy, and the policy was issued to you as a nonsmoker, if you start smoking it will not increase your prices. You do not need to worry about this affecting your life insurance policy in any way. The life insurance company can not contest a claim, and they can not void your policy.
Is vaping considered tobacco use for insurance?
Insurers generally treat vaping the same as smoking when determining how much you'll pay for a policy. E-cigarette users can still buy life insurance, but they'll pay two to three times more for coverage than their non-smoking peers regardless of the substance. Ready to shop for life insurance?
Do I Have To Tell My Provider I Smoke?
Many insurance applicants may be tempted to withhold the truth about their smoking and vaping habits because of how it impacts their premiums and coverage. However, honesty is the best policy for all tobacco users.
How E-Cigarettes Affect Life Insurance
Aside from potential long-term health consequences, one of the unintended effects of vaping is how it impacts your life insurance coverage. Luckily, most life insurance companies haven’t standardized the way they price their policies for vapers. This means that there may be some leeway on your policy, depending on what you smoke.
Policy Rates For Vapers
Regardless of which policy you end up choosing, your whole life or term life insurance rates are subject to a few considerations. This largely depends on your medical exam results and general tobacco use.
How Do I Improve My Policy Rates?
Smoking or vaping is one of the main things that can inflate your life insurance fees, but there are still ways to get the coverage and death benefit you need:
Conclusion
Vaping has become increasingly popular because of its reputation of being the “healthier alternative” to traditional cigarettes. Despite this, insurance providers tend to prince vapers’ policy rates similarly to smoker rates. However, there are alternatives and exceptions that every vaper can consider undertaking to achieve better premiums.
How to get the best life insurance rates?
The key to getting the best rates on a good policy is to research life insurance providers and to be completely honest in your application.
Why were e-cigarettes created?
E-cigarettes were created to model the experience of smoking without the associated risks of smoking.
What happens when a life insurance company agrees to underwrite your policy?
When a life insurance company agrees to underwrite your policy, they’re taking a risk, even if you are in good health and averse to risky habits and hobbies.
What are the factors that affect your cancer rate?
Hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart conditions, and other dangerous illnesses, or a family history of cancer with genetic links can impact your rates. One of the top factors that will shape your rates is tobacco use.
What is e juice?
The liquid you vape, often referred to as e-juice, is composed of nicotine, glycerine, and propylene glycol, along with whatever flavor you choose.
Can you get life insurance if you smoke?
It is possible to obtain life insurance if you use vapes or e-cigarettes. Most life insurance companies will classify you into smoker rates and will also inquire about other pre-existing medical conditions such as weight, hypertension, and even diabetes. Work with an independent life insurance agent to secure the lowest rates possible.
Can you get a non smoker life insurance?
With that said, they allow you to be positive for nicotine or cotinine in your life insurance medical exam and still get these non-smoker rates.
How Do Insurance Companies View Vaping?
The practice of vaping is still in its infancy, so exactly how it is treated by life insurance companies is subject to some debate. Until recently, there have been companies that would grant life insurance policies for vapers with better ratings and lower premiums than would be the case for traditional smokers.
How many carcinogens are in vape juice?
While cigarette smoking involves 69 carcinogenic compounds, the vape juices used in vaping contain just five. And since most juices do include at least some nicotine, the FDA believes that there is little difference between vaping and cigarette smoking.
What is vaping smoking?
Vaping is short for vaporizing. Unlike cigarettes, in which you are inhaling the smoke from burning tobacco, vaping involves inhaling steam that is produced from heated liquids. The vaporizer device itself, which looks something like an updated 21st-century version of a tobacco pipe, is often referred to as the electronic cigarette, or simply an e-cigarette.
Is life insurance considered a smoker?
This has put the vast majority of life insurance companies in the camp of considering vapers to be traditional smokers. In other words, life insurance companies don’t differentiate between vaping and smoking – it’s all considered to be smoking, and subject to higher premiums.
Is vaping a smoking cessation program?
At the same time, there are also people in official circles who argue that vaping represents a legitimate smoking cessation program, and should be seen in a more preferential light than tobacco smoking.
Is vaping better than smoking?
The reason vaping is considered safer than cigarette smoking is that you are inhaling water vapor, rather than smoke. In addition, though the juices that are put into e-cigarettes typically do contain nicotine, it’s usually in weaker doses than what is found in cigarettes. And some vape juices contain no nicotine at all.
Is vaping a health hazard?
Even though vaping has generally been shown to be considerably less of a health hazard than cigarette smoking, life insurance companies often link the two as one in the same.
How They Determine Your Life Insurance Classification
When you are applying for life insurance, you will go through a process that is referred to as underwriting, in which you will be given an insurance health classification.
Vaping Considered Smoking for Insurance Purposes
Whether you believe that vaping is better for you than smoking, insurance companies will still charge you a considerably higher rate in order to obtain life insurance.
What about Marijuana?
For the purposes of a health insurance rating, insurance companies view marijuana smokers the same way that they view tobacco smokers, even if you “vape” your marijuana. Unfortunately, vaping or smoking THC or marijuana based compounds will lead to more expensive life insurance even if you are otherwise healthy and the rate of use is infrequent.
Why Just One Insurance Carrier?
Aside from this specific carrier, for every other carrier the jury is still out for lack of hard evidence on whether long-term use of e-cigarettes causes the same decrease in life expectancy as with other tobacco products.
What to do if you cut back on vaping?
If you’ve cut back on your vaping habits or quit cold turkey, inform your agent immediately.
What is the biggest misconception about vaping?
As would be expected, one of the greatest misconceptions about vaping and life insurance is the rate class you can be approved for.
Why is life insurance so expensive for smokers?
Life insurance for smokers is so much more expensive because this decrease in longevity is up to 10 years. Most insurance companies would consider this drop in longevity not only a significant risk, but also a huge liability concern.
How long do you have to smoke to be eligible for non-smoker rates?
Some companies are more strict with their conditions, mandating no less than 2 years smoke-free before becoming eligible.
What happens if you don't disclose your illness to your insurance company?
Failing to disclose a habit or illness to secure better insurance rates is considered insurance fraud.
How to prepare for a blood test?
Prepare ahead of time for your blood test, and take your physical seriously. Admit to your examiner you use an e-cigarette before commencing the exam. Do not lie, either directly or by omission, during the underwriting process (including the exam).
How much does a non tobacco vape save?
In situations where this man will not qualify for the very best smoking rates, the non-tobacco vape premiums will be over $800 less per year!
How does Dipsurance help vapers?
Dipsurance helps vapers save over 50% on life insurance by providing free quotes from top-rated insurance companies that will give you a non-tobacco health rating.
What is dipsurance job?
Our only job at Dipsurance is to help you get a non-tobacco rate! We are experts in vaping life insurance and understand all underwriting guidelines for companies that are okay with vape.
Do you have to disclose your vaping on your life insurance?
Disclose Your Vaping Use on the Life Insurance Application: You have to admit to using a vapor when completing your life insurance application. There is a specific question asking about tobacco use. Just be truthful and admit to vaping because the insurance company needs to know why nicotine is going to show up in your body on the medical exam. If you lie or forget to disclose, you will get a smoker rate and the company will not change this rate later.
Can you get a non tobacco rate if you have not smoked cigarettes in the last year?
Not Smoked Cigarettes in the Last 365 Days: To qualify for a non-tobacco rate, you cannot have smoked cigarettes in the last year. The life insurance company will ask this question and will not offer you this rate if you have been a cigarette smoker in the last year.
Is a smoker considered a smoker for life insurance?
If you’ve skimmed to this point: just know that most companies will consider you the same as a cigarette smoker for life insurance purposes in 2017. This means that you will qualify for a tobacco rating that is based on your overall health.
Can you get standard plus non tobacco insurance?
This means that they view vaping in a much favorable way than cigarette smoking. As long as you admit to vaping on the term insurance application and haven’t smo ke a cigarette in a year you can qualify for up to a Standard Plus Non-Tobacco rate when buying a buying a policy online.
How Long Does Nicotine Stay in Your System?
How long nicotine stays in your body varies by the frequency and quantity you smoke. Your health, activity level, and even the length of your hair can determine how long nicotine sticks around.
How to Pass a Nicotine Test for Life Insurance?
The best way to pass a life insurance nicotine test is to stop smoking.
Can you Lie to an Insurance Company about Smoking?
You can lie to an insurance company about smoking, but you will get caught if they conduct nicotine screening tests. There’s no foolproof way to tell if nicotine will show up in your blood, urine, saliva, or hair. You also may have a record of smoking in your medical records. If the life insurance company checks your medical records, they could decline your application for lying (aka insurance fraud).
What is a cotinine test?
The nicotine or cotinine test for life insurance is designed to measure the level of nicotine in your body to determine your smoking habits, decide whether you’re an active smoker, or if you’ve recently stopped. This is why seniors over 70 years with health conditions and/or who smoke should get a guaranteed policy.
How often can you test for nicotine in cotton swab?
Saliva tests are much more sensitive than urine tests and can detect nicotine for around 4 days, but sometimes as long as a week.
What is the most accurate nicotine test?
The hair test is the most accurate nicotine test for life insurance, but it’s also the most expensive. Most insurance companies rely on saliva or blood tests for nicotine unless they have reason to use the hair test.
How long does a blood test show cotinine?
The bloodstream only holds onto small amounts of nicotine for a few short days, but it may show cotinine for up to 10 days.
