Vapeing and Life Insurance?

[jamminloud]

I did not know quite where to post this. I am wondering if anyone knows how the insurance companies are treating vapeing as it pertains to life insurance. I think everyone knows that if you smoke cigarettes, your life insurance premiums shoot through the roof. If you disclose that you vape, are you being treated the same way?

 

[WomanOfHeart]

Some insurance companies will test for the presence of nicotine and will treat it like smoking. It boggles my mind that they do this, because anyone who uses the patch or chews the gum will come up positive as well. Until they change this, we're going to get charged up the .... on our policies even though we DON'T SMOKE!

 

[fray]

My insurance company has different rates for smokers and tobacco users. I was classified as a tobacco user because they found nicotine but my carbon monoxide levels were that of a non smoker

 

[jamminloud]

Thanks w.o.h. and fray. I'm not surprised by your answers. I figured the insurance people are erring on the side of caution. I can see where there might be conflict if vapeing premiums were lower than analog. Every analog smoker may just say they vape and how is the underwriter really to know they are fibbing unless they looked at Co2 or other factors? However, I think the vapeing industry could make a strong argument that premiums should be lower than those for analog smokers. Maybe some hotshot lawyer looking to make a name for himself will take this on someday.

 

[Kbut655]

My insurance company explained to me that as long as there is nicotine in the test samples, you will be classified as a smoker.
When I asked about NRT giving false readings they told me that premiums do not go down until you have quit smoking for 1 year, at that time you will be re-tested and if you had to use an NRT treatment to quit the treatment would have been completed and there would be no nicotine in your system.
They have no separate coverage for vaping.
This is in Canada so there may be different rules for insurance in the US.

 

[Cronus6]

Some insurance companies will test for the presence of nicotine and will treat it like smoking. It boggles my mind that they do this, because anyone who uses the patch or chews the gum will come up positive as well. Until they change this, we're going to get charged up the .... on our policies even though we DON'T SMOKE!

Patches, gum etc. are only supposed to be temporary, and "if used correctly" you are supposed to ween yourself of nicotine.
Yeah, we all know they rarely work as they are supposed to. And the amount of people that actually DO quit using the above methods that re-lapse is very high %-wise.

The same is true for vapors (from the insurance companies standpoint), we "re-lapse". In fact for some of us we never 100% "quit" smoking analogs. Hell, I'm happy to be down to two analogs a day personally.

Most insurance companies will re-test you after a specific period of time if you say you've "quit", usually a year or more.
And reduce your premium if you test clean.

I suppose you could scam the system by figuring out how long nic stays in your system and abstaining for that period of time then return to vaping. But if nicotine shows up in the test after you die... they would probably deny payment.

This is a two edged issue for me. I don't know that I want the FDA involved any more than they are with vaping. BUT if they did some studies and found it "safe"(er) insurance companies would move in a more friendly direction.
But with FDA involvement like that *shudders* taxes and regulations (like the PACT act) would surely follow...

Basically I think we'd get screwed one way or the other.

 

[Arthur Hucksake]

For a joke, I once got a quote for life cover and said I was an alcoholic ...... addict. The premium was cheaper than being a smoker and no , I am not kidding. Absolutely gobsmacked. Idiots.

 

[toddos]

I suppose you could scam the system by figuring out how long nic stays in your system and abstaining for that period of time then return to vaping. But if nicotine shows up in the test after you die... they would probably deny payment.

The tests check for cotinine in blood, urine, or saliva. According to wikipedia, cotinine can stay in your system for a week or more. Since home test kits are pretty cheap, it'd be interesting to see what vaping low-nic juice would show. The home tests will show positive for 200ng/mL and negative for less, so check with your life insurance company what amount they use to determine smoker status. It could be as low as 10ng/mL, though I suspect you'd have that much in your system if you ate a plate of potatoes and peppers.

So far, my insurance company has never required me to take any such test. If they did, I'd wean myself down to 0mg juice 2-3 weeks before the test just to be sure.

 

[NicLiq]

I am glad to read some are checking for carbon monoxide levels. After what I went through when I switched, carbon monoxide withdrawal was by far the worst thing I went through.