Reader’s Question:

Can I lie about my smoking habits on my life insurance application? Should I tell them I smoke only about two to three times a week? What will happen if the insurers find out I lied about being a smoker?

Saundra

Midwest City, OK

You’ve raised a good question. Yes you can choose to lie about being a smoker on your life insurance application. In fact, you can probably even pass the urine test (since nicotine in the body tends to drop into very low levels 72 hours after smoking). Here’s the catch though, if you die and it is proven that the cause of death is a smoking-related complication or illness then the life insurance company has the right to refuse to pay out the death benefits to your beneficiaries. So all those years you’ve been paying your premiums will just be thrown out the window.

If, on the other hand, it is found out during the underwriting process that you are in fact a smoker the most that life insurers really do is bump your rate up to that of a smoker. Rarely would an insurer cancel a policy just because of this (and in economic times like these, they really can’t afford to do so).

As far as telling them that you are an occasional smoker, that would probably get you better rates as compared to a heavy smoker (and you wouldn’t have to lie anymore just to save some bucks). An even better idea would be to quit smoking since life insurance smoking rates are three to four times higher compared to that of a non-smoker. You also get the added benefit of avoiding some very nasty smoking-related diseases that can considerably shorten your lifespan, and make you wish you’ve quitted when it was not too late yet.