The Long Read
Everything you *need to know* about term insurance for smokers is right above this. Scroll down, only if you'd still like to read more (honestly, why?)
Yes. You can still apply for term insurance if you smoke weed. However, you do need to inform your life insurance company about it when applying for a term plan.
It depends entirely on your life insurance company and the level of your addiction to marijuana. Consult an insurance advisor to discuss this.
P.S.: Even if you smoke weed, don’t forget to mention that in your application. Hiding information when buying term insurance may result in a claim rejection.
Yes, your marijuana smoking habit will have a direct impact on your term insurance application.
Depending on your smoking habit, your insurer may either
Offer you the policy without any increase in premium if it has been a while since your last use (as defined by your insurer)
Charge you a higher premium if you are a frequent user
While you may get a basic term plan, depending on your insurer, you may be denied certain riders.
Yes, if you die from an illegal activity such as a drug overdose, your life insurance company may deny your term insurance claim.
Want to know what factors can result in a term insurance claim rejection? Let’s find out.
We assume that you plan on no longer smoking weed or you want to do so only occasionally. If that is the case, your insurer may assess your health profile and depending on the results (i.e are you healthy, has weed impacted your long-term health in a negative way) and the risk involved (i.e. has smoking weed made you riskier than an average non-smoker) may offer you a term insurance policy*.
*It is best to check with your term insurer.
Unfortunately, smoking weed regularly may not come in handy when you apply for a term insurance policy. Since smoking weed has its health risks, regular smoking may make your insurer see you as a high-risk individual. So the chances of you getting a term insurance policy are less.
Unfortunately, they can. See, as per studies, long-term weed use can cause:
Cognitive problems
Breathing issues
Cardiovascular problems
Lung damage
The insurer may perceive that a person who has smoked weed or is smoking weed over a long term has a higher risk of developing the aforementioned health problems and hence may deny certain riders, such as the critical illness rider.
But knowing this information doesn’t mean you should hide your weed-smoking history from your insurer. You should still reveal your weed-smoking history to your insurer unless you want to hide important information and stand a chance to lose the term insurance claim.
The answer will depend on your weed-smoking habits. If you smoke regularly, your insurer may increase the premium and offer you the policy. If it has been a while since you smoked weed, you may not be charged higher premiums.
There is a possibility that your term plan was rejected because of your weed-smoking habits.
Even if you are eligible to get a term plan, your application may still be rejected because of the following reasons:
Specific health issues
Age
Hazardous occupation
Dangerous hobbies
Poor lifestyle choices
Income limitations
Past criminal record
Previous application declines
Falsifying information
History of declined applications
You should check with your insurer for the reason or reasons for your term plan rejection and act accordingly.
Your plan may have got rejected not because you smoke weed but because your weed-smoking habit may have affected your health negatively. You should ask your insurer what the exact reason was for rejecting your application.
Based on what they answer, you can take care of your health, try to improve your health status and try applying for a term policy again.
You may want to apply with another insurer immediately, but there are high chances that even other insurers would reject your application.
Check with your insurer about what ill effects your weed-smoking habit had on your health. Based on their answer, try to improve your health status and try rechecking/re-applying your application again.
No, don’t hide information from your insurer. You may end up saving premiums at the cost of losing your claim. If you lie or provide inaccurate information to your insurer, they may reject your claim later on. It’s better to pay a higher premium than lose the claim altogether.
Yes, you should. Your weed smoking habits are a part of your health and hobbies-related information. If you do not reveal this information to your insurer, your claim may be denied later on.
Also, don’t worry! Since you had only smoked in the past, chances are you may still get a term plan too without any premium increase.
Yes, you are most likely to get a term plan. You may not get a term plan if your weed smoking habits kept you at more risk of certain diseases but since you had only smoked once in your life, it may have not had a very huge impact on your health.
Depending on your weed smoking and vaping habits, your term insurance application may get:
Accepted
Rejected
Postponed
Accepted with higher premiums
Smoking weed can have a negative effect on your health (for example you may experience lung-related diseases) and may put you at risk of critical illnesses. The critical illness rider can provide an advance payout from your life cover in case you are diagnosed with a critical illness. The payout can be used for treating your critical illness and if you, unfortunately, die from the critical illness, your family gets the remaining life cover.
You can consider adding a critical illness rider to your term plan but you need to check with your insurer.
It will depend on your health status. If your smoking habits did not have a big negative impact on your health, you may be offered a term plan. But if the insurer feels that your past smoking habits have made you too risky, they may not offer you a term plan.
But don’t be disheartened. Go ahead and apply for the term plan and mention your past smoking habits and your current rehab to your insurer if they ask you.
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