Originally Posted by MrOneEyedBoh (Post 817787)

Also keep in mind if you die because of a smoking related death

Originally Posted by kydsid (Post 817779)

A staged question deserves a staged answer. And Because I feel that my occasional cigar is not smoking and therefore can honestly answer when asked, 'Do you smoke?', No. And if I haven't had a cigar in a week what are they going to find in my blood? :tu

Originally Posted by Blueface (Post 817888)

I too listed myself as a moker.

Originally Posted by CigarNut (Post 817876)

If they can find proof that you did smoke cigars when you signed up for the insurance then they can get out of paying out the insurance regardless of how you died because you "lied" on your application. This is from a friend of mine who sells insurance.

It's much safer (in terms of Life Insurnance) to say "yes" to the smoking question.

Originally Posted by brigey57 (Post 818055)

I did disclose the information to the agent with words like in an effort of full disclosure, I do on occasion smoke cigars. So there is no I didn't disclose the information. Fortunately it is coming off of the Winter. :xxx

Originally Posted by BigCat (Post 818089)

Most of the time the agents are considered to be independent agents, meaning that they are working for you, not the insurance company, when they submit your application. That means that the insurance company will tell you that they don't care what you told the agent - it only matters what is on the application. If your agent screws up, you can always sue him for negligence, but it won't be grounds to get benefits that you told the agent something and he decided not to include it on the application. Just wanted to throw that out there...

Originally Posted by brigey57 (Post 818096)

Well in that case it won't much matter cause to collect you need to be dead. :sleep:

Originally Posted by brigey57 (Post 818055)

I did disclose the information to the agent with words like in an effort of full disclosure, I do on occasion smoke cigars. So there is no I didn't disclose the information. Fortunately it is coming off of the Winter. :xxx

Originally Posted by brigey57 (Post 817762)

I recently applied for life insurance and was struck during the agents questionnaire "Do you smoke?" Not if you smoke what type of product do you use, or how often do you smoke, but do you smoke?

Originally Posted by brigey57 (Post 818261)

You do know that I understand that and my response was said sarcastically or why else would I look to buy Life insurance in the first place? Thank you for clarifying your point...;s

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol (Post 976073)

I fret having to get life insurance. Any companies that are better for cigar smokers?

Originally Posted by JohnE1000 (Post 980194)

If you lie, they will refuse your claims, then what is the insurance good for?

Originally Posted by MrOneEyedBoh (Post 817775)

Im young at 22 yrs old, I went with a 30 year life insurance policy and they too asked me. At the time I was using dip. They took blood at my home and sent it to the lab. I ended up with the same pricing as the original healthy adult male estimate my agent gave me.

Luck? Maybe so, but i have heard they do jack it up because your more at risk, so to say, than a healthy non-smoking male.

Originally Posted by Ahbroody (Post 980450)

This is a very valid point. Insurance companies dont follow up. More I have been able to find nothing regarding if you start smoking cigars later in life. They will not deny based on that and it is not on you to tell them you have begun smoking. The policy is based on the terms at time of signing. Given how bad insurance companies have and continue to screw people sorry if I lack compassion for them. That said I will likely disclose casual cigar use. I worked as an insurance adjuster for over 2 years. The primary focus on all claims was tryimg to see if coverage could be denied. Insurance companies love to take money and make profits, but sure dont like giving you any of your money back.

Tomorrow will make 1 week no cigars. Looks like I will make 2 weeks before the physical. That will make for an interesting dilemma.

Originally Posted by Ahbroody (Post 980529)

Who was the carrier and how long was it between last cigar and the test

Originally Posted by jkim05 (Post 980552)

For all life insurance claims, the insurance company has 2 years from the date of the contract to make any adjustments or amendments to the policy, and that is only for information that was discovered later relevant at the time the policy was underwritten. For instance, if a criminal history was discovered subsequent to the original issue of the policy or some relevant medical information was not disclosed originally, but found out later by the insurance company, they could raise your rates or cancel the policy outright depending on the issue. However, any changes that happen subsequent to underwriting is not subject to disclosure. You could have a had any number of health conditions, but if it was not preexisting or did not come up in underwriting, the life insurance company cannot deny a claim on that basis. Once the policy is issued, you can do whatever you want, but you don't want to lie prior to the policy being issued also.

Originally Posted by Ahbroody (Post 980450)

Given how bad insurance companies have and continue to screw people sorry if I lack compassion for them. That said I will likely disclose casual cigar use. I worked as an insurance adjuster for over 2 years. The primary focus on all claims was tryimg to see if coverage could be denied. Insurance companies love to take money and make profits, but sure dont like giving you any of your money back.

Originally Posted by Ahbroody (Post 980919)

Well allstates pretty big and they lost a 16 million dollar bad faith claim around two years ago. I am pretty sure with minimal effort I can find articles about what ever company you work for settling lawsuits or getting judgements against them. :r

I never inferred perfection in our industry. Sometimes bad faith suits are as result of being set up. Sometimes they come from mistakes. More times than not, they come from mistakes, not intentional acts. Adjusters are human an din some states, you miss one word on a letter and that constitues bad faith. In Florida, attorneys ask for the dumbest of things in letters of representation, buried in an evident way hoping you miss one and hence are in bad faith. It is unjust to paint all insurance companies and adjusters with the same brush.

I will say the following. When the person first calls the first thing done is to see if the policy is enforce or has lapsed for some reason.

It is a business. Of course this should be the first thing they do. If coverage is not in force, would you want to pay for something you did not owe? When you go to the dealer for service, don't they check to see if your car is still under warranty?

After this the claim is triaged and the adjuster gets it, amoung determining what happened is asking a series of questions based on the policy and facts to determine exposure and if another person is liable for claim.

That is called "Subrogation". If someone else is responsible, from whom you can collect from, from which you can reimburse deductibles to insureds or lower overall premium by reducing exposure, wouldn't you do it?

If not then it needs to be determined if insureds policy will cover and if there was anything done that would exclude coverage.

Policies are contracts. They contain coverages, conditions and exclusions. Again, what is so wrong with adhering to the contract and if an exclusion exists, it applies? The good thing is after many years at it, you don't need to look for the exclusions. You know them the minute you see a claim and likewise, you know there is coverage afforded the minute you see a valid claim.

It was not a small insurance company its serves the whole country. Coverage is always checked and the company is always trying to determine if they are not responsible for paying.

And if coverage exists? Which is likely the majority of the times? Again, it is a business. Don't understand why this is a bad thing.

Insurance companies are businesses with shareholders. The goal of any business is to make profits. Paying claims and making as much profit as possible are in direct conflict.

First part correct. The rest not. To correct it, containment of costs is the way to make money, with increased revenue from writing new business, but more importantly, keeping older customers happy. The money is made as result of profitable long term renewals and the profits from investments, not from the claims savings.

You said your piece I have now said my piece . We are definitely not going to agree. I quit because I hated it you love it.

True. Apparently you were asked to act in a way I have never been in 28 years.

As to ontopic wife was called by her screener today. She is set for next monday. I am still waiting to hear from mine. Hopefully tomorrow. Looks like next week for me also.

Originally Posted by Blueface (Post 980978)

See in bold.

Originally Posted by ckay (Post 981007)

Two things:

They do not test for nicotine. They test for cotinine.

Also, there are companies that look at cigar smokers more favorably than cigarette smokers. I write policies for many BOTLs and get my underwriters to look more favorably towards us.

A side note...insurance companies are going towards tobacco/non-tobacco classifications.

It is absolutely okay to tell the agent that you enjoy cigars and you should disclose this.

Lastly, if you are young and healthy, DO NOT BUY TERM! TERM NEVER PAYS OUT AS YOU ARE INSURING THE HEALTHIEST PART OF YOUR LIVES!

Originally Posted by wayner123 (Post 981338)

If you tell them you smoke cigars and the test is clean, they still might put you on a smoker's rate.

Originally Posted by lenrobbins (Post 1179606)

Today there are two high quality life insurance companies that will consider cigar smokers as "non-smokers" for the purchase of both term and permanent coverage. In addition, several additional carriers will give "non-smoker" rates to very occasional cigar users.
Lenny Robbins
LifeNet Insurance Solutions