there IS something worse then losing BGM's in the mail....
- Thread starter fuente
- Start date
I don't believe I would lie to my insurance carrier. If not mistaken, your life insurance carrier can modify the amount payable to your heirs if it is found you actually were a smoker. I believe this to be the case.
That is absolutely true. But with my carrier, all that would happen is that they would deduct the difference in the premium I would have paid for the smokers rate. So if, let's say, thru my life I paid 2K a year for the prefered rate for 50 years, and the smokers rate was 3K, then they'd deduct 50K from the payout (1K x 50 years). That's if you die from smoking or a smoking related illness, or get cancer from smoking. Entirely possible, but money in my pocket now, compared to my heirs getting 1.95M instead of 2M...well.. it's kind of a no brainer.The Prince said:
Don't know about other carriers, but that's how mine does it.
I've heard others say that it would void the payout, but that's nonsense. There is a clause, I believe, in the contract that states if you lie on your application, they can void it, but you could say you're a non-smoker and pass the test, start smoking the next day and die of cancer. You'd still get the payout.
I wouldn't be doing it this way if the contract would be voided or the payout severely affected. I'm not even sure what the smokers rate is, but even if it was 100K less, well, 1.9M is still a huge amount of money, tax free to boot.
a life insurance policy that will pay almost 100% benefits for a person killed by smoking but the policy specifically states that the insured is a non-smoker.fuente said:
wow, send me the name of your insurance company. do they work in Canada?
you are correct. if you die of cancer the day after your test, your loved ones could lie and say you just started smoking that day. but unfortunately, the autopsy would prove them wrong. and believe me, any insurance company would do an autopsy.
in my opinion - your loved ones would not get 1 cent. insurance companies may use a nicotine test for giving you the policy. i doubt they use it when it comes time to pay a claim.
BTW - the difference for me is only a few bucks a month. it isn't worth the risk
I respect your opinion, but my carrier does not work this way, and it's in the contract. They are allowed to void a claim; but not for this reason. I asked my agent about this before i decided to go this route. Here's what happens a lot of the time (unfortunately).jordon said:
Someone takes out a 20 year policy. That means they get tested once, and if they don't change policies, not again until 20 years later. A lot can happen in 20 years. They could start smoking, using drugs, start skydiving...all things that could kill them prematurely. As a client, you have zero responsibility to call your agent and tell them you've started doing crack, smoking, or anything else.
So you die of smoking-related disease (cancer, whatever). The insurance company will not negate your entire claim. After all, you've been paying premiums for 20 years. They will simply adjust your payout, based on the smokers premium...maybe. This is where lawyers get involved. For drugs and skydiving, the same 'negotiation' would happen.
Carriers almost never completely disallow a claim, unless the claim itself is fradulent. If they did operate like this, they would not be in business for long.
And it's a lot more than a few bucks more a month, almost double.
absolutely. You are buying insurance....they are taking a chance that you won't die by doing something stupid AFTER you sign up. That's factored into the premium you pay.
The questionaire you sign is a snapshot in time. The question about smoking states 'have you smoked in the past 36 months?'. If you said no, and were being truthful, and then started smoking the day after your blood test, and died of a smoking related illness before you had to re-up your policy (new test), the claim will be paid, no questions asked. There may be some litigation, but the contract you sign does not state that you must keep your agent updated as to your hobbies, health, cholesterol levels, drug use, or anything else. Another interesting fact is that if you take out a policy, then kill yourself, it will be paid in full, but only after a certain amount of time from the date of the start of the policy, usually 2-3 years. Why 2-3 years? I'm sure it's based on statistics and equations that someone calculated.
Again, it's all factored into the premium. They play the law of averages; most people that don't smoke are not going to take it up, just like most people that do not do drugs are not all of a sudden going to start smoking crack, at least the ones that buy insurance policies for their families.
If you paid into a policy for 20 years at 2K/year, and then you were denied a claim because after you opened your policy you started smoking and died, well, that would be theft by the insurance company, and you could sue them, and you'd win. And I think that is illegal, at least in CA where I live.
The questionaire you sign is a snapshot in time. The question about smoking states 'have you smoked in the past 36 months?'. If you said no, and were being truthful, and then started smoking the day after your blood test, and died of a smoking related illness before you had to re-up your policy (new test), the claim will be paid, no questions asked. There may be some litigation, but the contract you sign does not state that you must keep your agent updated as to your hobbies, health, cholesterol levels, drug use, or anything else. Another interesting fact is that if you take out a policy, then kill yourself, it will be paid in full, but only after a certain amount of time from the date of the start of the policy, usually 2-3 years. Why 2-3 years? I'm sure it's based on statistics and equations that someone calculated.
Again, it's all factored into the premium. They play the law of averages; most people that don't smoke are not going to take it up, just like most people that do not do drugs are not all of a sudden going to start smoking crack, at least the ones that buy insurance policies for their families.
If you paid into a policy for 20 years at 2K/year, and then you were denied a claim because after you opened your policy you started smoking and died, well, that would be theft by the insurance company, and you could sue them, and you'd win. And I think that is illegal, at least in CA where I live.
jeez, no one has called me for the test for the past two weeks !! I finally called THEM and they said they had no available appointments in my area until April 3. I told them I couldn't make it (I couldn't) and they said to expect another call in a few days to sent something up later on.
Screw this, I'm having a cigar tonight. I can always push it off another two weeks.
Screw this, I'm having a cigar tonight. I can always push it off another two weeks.
AZsteelman
April 2006 BoM
sounds like things are back on track...smoke a nice one dude!
Dood... don't wait until you're older, get it now. Your premiums will be low and you'll have a track record established. I think when I got mine it was around $35/qtr for $100,000 whole life coverage. Now it's about that much a month since my policy expired and I had to convert it.MichiganM said:
Two million dollar policy??? I hate to think what that policy costs...
opeyes: