Vaping and Life Insurance

[Vapemesilly]

I have a 20 year term policy that has hit the halfway mark and per the policy, my premium went up a fair bit. So I approached a friend of mine who is an agent for New York Life to see what he might be able to do for me. He asked me if I was still vaping and I told him yes. He said the insurance companies have lumped all nicotine delivery systems together. He gave me two quotes. The nicotine user quote was double the non-nicotine user quote. He said if I could quit vaping for three weeks, to get it out of my system I could get the testing and get the non-nicotine rate.

Not sure I can do that.

Maybe I could try vaping zero nic...I don't know. Maybe I'll just stick with the policy I already have.

 

[BigPappa]

Good luck, it might be at least worth a try. I don't think I could do that, even if it were a big savings... I don't think I would be strong enough.

 

[Sloth Tonight]

I'd have a rough time of it but I'd probably try to vape 0mg for 3 weeks. What a stupid policy though. IMO they should NOT raise insurance rates for vapers at all. They don't raise the rates for caffeine users.

 

[gpjoe]

My solution was to drop all my life insurance when I retired. Dont really have any debt, and my pension and Social Security will continue to my wife upon my death.

It's sad that smokers are singled out for their bad habit and penalized in the form of higher life insurance and health insurance premiums, even more disappointing in the case of "nicotine users" (vapers) that are (subjectively) healthier for having quit smoking.

It really irks me when I see people abusing alcohol, or obese people gobbling up Big Macs daily with zero effect on their insurance rates. Im not advocating for this, but the fair equivalent would be using cholesterol tests, BMI, and an alcohol tether to determine rates for these folks.

 

[Uncle Willie]

I have a Friend that went thru the Insurance issue and quit in order to pass the test and save the money .. the Insurance Co required that he agree to be re-tested at any time in the future they might choose ..

 

[r77r7r]

If you vape flavoring, might not be too bad. I tried it and being unflavored only it was like vaping air. Needed at least 3mg. Maybe 3mg might be low enough? (4ml aday @ 8w)
Few weeks ago the whole industry rejected us, being lumped in with the tainted thc issue.

 

[Uncle Willie]

Insurance Companies will use any excuse to raise rates, and in the case of cigarette smokers, they have a good case to do so .. Vapers, not so much, but it's easy to lump it all in ..

As well, Insurance Companies are not really designed to do what they tout in the TV commercials, IE Help a Policy Holder .. their job is to deny as many claims as possible and charge the Consumer the maximum rate possible .. thusly, creating a nice Shareholder and CEO Bonus scenario ..

 

[Vapemesilly]

My solution was to drop all my life insurance when I retired. Dont really have any debt, and my pension and Social Security will continue to my wife upon my death.

I'm not quite retired yet. Similar situation though, my IRA will roll over to the missus if a piano falls out of the sky tomorrow and flattens me. The insurance policy is really just to finish off the mortgage in case of the piano play.

 

[kross8]

Insurance Companies will use any excuse to raise rates, and in the case of cigarette smokers, they have a good case to do so .. Vapers, not so much, but it's easy to lump it all in ..

As well, Insurance Companies are not really designed to do what they tout in the TV commercials, IE Help a Policy Holder .. their job is to deny as many claims as possible and charge the Consumer the maximum rate possible .. thusly, creating a nice Shareholder and CEO Bonus scenario ..

I dont think most people understand the insurance game...you are paying the insurance company to broker you a better deal. If you had no insurance &are good about fighting for fair pricing,, most Dr, hospital, drugs will work with you on prices,- I used the argument that I was a highly stressed smoker once likely to drop dead before paying them off to get a discount,,,it took some real effort but my total bill went from $54,000 to $14,500

Think about it,,, you see some expensive drug on tv,,, then they offer a huge discount to some people,,,--how??? Why??? Because that is the real cost + built in profit! Anything they can get out of you above what your insurance pays is pure gravy & cream frosting.

 

[Uncle Willie]

I dont think most people understand the insurance game...

Think about it,,, you see some expensive drug on tv,,, then they offer a huge discount to some people,,,--how??? Why??? Because that is the real cost + built in profit! Anything they can get out of you above what your insurance pays is pure gravy & cream frosting.

I don't have a problem with a Drug Company recouping what can be some major money to R&D a new drug .. but the true test of price is what folks outside the USA pay over the counter ..

 

[kross8]

I don't have a problem with a Drug Company recouping what can be some major money to R&D a new drug .. but the true test of price is what folks outside the USA pay over the counter ..

I don't mind paying the drug price provided it has a proven cure rate,, otherwise its a crap shoot with snake oil.

 

[dcdozer]

I have a 20 year term policy that has hit the halfway mark and per the policy, my premium went up a fair bit. So I approached a friend of mine who is an agent for New York Life to see what he might be able to do for me. He asked me if I was still vaping and I told him yes. He said the insurance companies have lumped all nicotine delivery systems together. He gave me two quotes. The nicotine user quote was double the non-nicotine user quote. He said if I could quit vaping for three weeks, to get it out of my system I could get the testing and get the non-nicotine rate.

Not sure I can do that.

Maybe I could try vaping zero nic...I don't know. Maybe I'll just stick with the policy I already have.

There was an agent that linked up here on the forum a few years ago - name is David Gould - that got me "vaper's life insurance" through Prudential. It cut my cost in less than half, and extended my coverage to a much older age. He reached out to me recently to let me know that the recent lung injuries caused Prudential to back away from offering this to new customers, but I'm not sure if that has happened yet. His email address is david.gould@prudential.com if you're interested.

 

[Vapemesilly]

There was an agent that linked up here on the forum a few years ago - name is David Gould - that got me "vaper's life insurance" through Prudential. It cut my cost in less than half, and extended my coverage to a much older age. He reached out to me recently to let me know that the recent lung injuries caused Prudential to back away from offering this to new customers, but I'm not sure if that has happened yet. His email address is david.gould@prudential.com if you're interested.

Interesting. My current policy is with Prudential.

 

[dcdozer]

Interesting. My current policy is with Prudential.

My "preferred smoker" policy was with Prudential, but they never told me they offered vaping insurance even though I asked about it. David was independent when he advertised vaping insurance on ECF, and the vaping policy I got was with Prudential as well. I was surprised. Might be worth reaching out to David (he works for Prudential now, but somehow he is independent and can sell policies from other companies too).

BTW, I don't get anything for recommending him - he's just been a great agent for me.

 

[AvaOrchid]

I have a 20 year term policy that has hit the halfway mark and per the policy, my premium went up a fair bit. So I approached a friend of mine who is an agent for New York Life to see what he might be able to do for me. He asked me if I was still vaping and I told him yes. He said the insurance companies have lumped all nicotine delivery systems together. He gave me two quotes. The nicotine user quote was double the non-nicotine user quote. He said if I could quit vaping for three weeks, to get it out of my system I could get the testing and get the non-nicotine rate.

Not sure I can do that.

Maybe I could try vaping zero nic...I don't know. Maybe I'll just stick with the policy I already have.

You may not be penalized for smoking cessation approved products. It's been awhile but my grandmother had a life insurance policy and she chewed Nicorette like it was going out of style for like 20 years at the non-smoker rate. I'm not sure how they would view it and I'm not suggesting that you lie just a thought. They may lump that in with smokers now because they believe that Nicorette is only used for a brief period of time so it indicates to them that you must have just recently quit using nicotine products that were not approved ...it's worth checking out

 

[AvaOrchid]

I don't have a problem with a Drug Company recouping what can be some major money to R&D a new drug .. but the true test of price is what folks outside the USA pay over the counter ..

Right if they actually used any large portion of the money for research and development that would be great but usually it's less than 10% most of their money goes for advertising and I think that's Criminal I mean I think advertising for prescription medication is a criminal activity there is no person that should be deciding what medication they should be on based on a television program or a radio ad. There should be no need to advertise for a specific drug and it should not be legal I should not be able to watch a movie and at the end of it decide I need Cymbalta lol anyway I'm off topic they don't typically use the money for research and development maybe in the past now the American taxpayer usually foots the bill for research and development and then the pharmaceutical companies profit off of it without ever having to pay back the American people

 

[BigPappa]

Right if they actually used any large portion of the money for research and development that would be great but usually it's less than 10% most of their money goes for advertising and I think that's Criminal I mean I think advertising for prescription medication is a criminal activity there is no person that should be deciding what medication they should be on based on a television program or a radio ad. There should be no need to advertise for a specific drug and it should not be legal I should not be able to watch a movie and at the end of it decide I need Cymbalta lol anyway I'm off topic they don't typically use the money for research and development maybe in the past now the American taxpayer usually foots the bill for research and development and then the pharmaceutical companies profit off of it without ever having to pay back the American people

You're forgetting about the 90 million dollar salaries for executives that do absolutely nothing and their private jets.

 

[Brewdawg1181]

I have a 20 year term policy that has hit the halfway mark and per the policy, my premium went up a fair bit. So I approached a friend of mine who is an agent for New York Life to see what he might be able to do for me. He asked me if I was still vaping and I told him yes. He said the insurance companies have lumped all nicotine delivery systems together. He gave me two quotes. The nicotine user quote was double the non-nicotine user quote. He said if I could quit vaping for three weeks, to get it out of my system I could get the testing and get the non-nicotine rate.

Not sure I can do that.

Maybe I could try vaping zero nic...I don't know. Maybe I'll just stick with the policy I already have.

Check with Prudential. A couple of years ago, I asked my agent if I could get a non-smoking term policy now that I was vaping instead of smoking. He was surprised at the question, but checked into it. Here was his response:

When you and I spoke last August, you had stopped smoking cigarettes in May and had started vaping instead. After you’ve stopped cigarettes for 12 months (vaping is not a problem) we can get a cheaper term life policy for you.
You asked me to reach out to you this month to see if you’re still cigarette-free. If so, we can apply for cheaper life insurance for you. (It will save you about $30K over the next 13 years!).


Let me know if you are still not smoking cigarettes. If that’s the case, we’ll apply for cheaper insurance for you.

I got the new policy- switched from Northwestern to Prudential, and have saved tons of money.

edit: Wow- I see now you mentioned your policy is Prudential. Guess it depends on the underwriter whose desk it crosses.