life insurance/occassional smoking

[texastepmom]

What is the name of your state? TX

My husband has smoked off and on for years... he'll quit for months, then have a cigarette at a bar and smoke for a few months (in general 3-4 cigs a week) then quit again etc. he had quit for the last two years with the exception of an odd cig at a bar.

Does my husband need to put himself down as a smoker on his life insurance? am i and his children totally SOL if he dies and they do a test on him?

thanks!

[Betty]

I can tell you at the co. I worked for if the applicant did any smoking at all (no matter how often), we required that the applicant indicated they were a smoker. Our application just asked if you smoked within the past year - all co. applications are not the same though.

If the applicant indicated on the application they were a non smoker & we required a urine specimen as part of the underwriting process before approval & it showed positive for nicotine, we would issue them as a smoker no matter what the app. said.

[texastepmom]

Thanks Betty, for your response. i appreciate you taking the time!

my husband already has the policy... it's through his firm... and he told me he put down non-smoker (he's in denial) i was just wondering if something does happen to him, do they test to make sure he wasn't a smoker? i've heard that they can test once there is a claim, but i don't know if that is true or not.

he has to turn in his paper work for next year this month, i'm trying to figure out if i need to put my foot down and make sure he changes his policy to smoker or not.

thanks again...

[Betty]

If he would die within the first two years of the effective date of the policy, most ins. policies have a contestable clause where the ins. co. can contest payment of the policy proceeds. They would normally get his medical records to be sure he didn't have a pre-existing condition he didn't admit to. However; if for some reason they did pick up that he smoked but there was no serious pre-existing condition not admitted to, our co. would still pay the policy proceeds - but the amt. of the proceeds would be adjusted for what the smoker premium would have bought instead of the non-smoker prem. he paid. Usually, the adjustment wouldn't be much. If something would happen to him, they don't do any type of test - just obtain medical records for review at claim time if it's within 1st two pol. yrs.

I hope I made sense here.

[texastepmom]

Thanks Betty... my husband has had this insurance through his work for over two years now... so most likely this won't be a problem? they would just take the extra smoking premium out before dispursing the rest of the policy?

I pray I never have to deal with life insurance, but i'm a total CYA kind of person and paranoid to boot, so i wanted to make sure.

thanks again!

[Betty]

Since it has been over two years that the pol. has been in force, the claim should be paid routinely (w/o review of any medical records) at full policy proceeds at non-smoker rates - I seriously doubt they will find out/worry about the correct smoking classification any longer. Underwriting has already been complete & the two years has passed.

I wouldn't worry about it - the worst that would happen would be at claim time they would reduce the amt. of ins. slightly since the lower non-smoker rates as opposed to the higher smoker rates were paid. I don't think that will even happen though since the pol. is out of the contestable period.

[newuser132]

I am going to apply for life insurance and I have smoked at just once instance in last 2 years and that was about 2 weeks ago. Should I write as smoker? What are the chances that the tests will show I smoked?

Thanks,
newuser132

[Betty]

Would you please start your own new thread. You added to another poster's thread from 11-07 & it gets confusing when there is more than one question under a thread. Thanks.

.

[wheel]

I think the info in this thread may be a bit off. The two year bit is for misrepresentation - but if you lied on the app, they may be able to get you for fraudulent misrepresentation. Caveat - it's this way in Canada, and it's similiar but not identical in the US so I could be off by a bit.

The real way to handle this is to work through a broker. Openly admit when and how much you smoke. If it's not much, you may be able to find someone who'll insure you at nonsmoker rates. i.e. you may find a company that will allow 1 cigarette a month.

[Betty]

Originally Posted by wheel

I think the info in this thread may be a bit off. The two year bit is for misrepresentation - but if you lied on the app, they may be able to get you for fraudulent misrepresentation. Caveat - it's this way in Canada, and it's similiar but not identical in the US so I could be off by a bit.

I worked for a major ins. co. in the US & it plus all the major cos. we reinsured with went by the two year contestable period - after the 2 yrs. elapsed, would not contest for any reason. They just paid the claim. I might mention that in a very, very rare occasion they may not pay the proceeds to the bene at the death of the insured because of something way out of the ordinary. We definitely wouldn't contest after 2 yrs. if they just lied on the app. about their smoking hx.