By Sean Dodayev | Life Insurance Post
People who aren’t familiar with marijuana can often give it a bad rep. The good news is life insurance companies only base their rates on facts, not social stigmas. So according to them, cannabis use isn’t all that bad. So let’s not waste time and answer the question you are here for.
Can you get life insurance if you smoke weed? Absolutely. However, the rate you qualify for will depend on why you use it, how often you use it and how that particular life insurance company views marijuana use. Non-smoker rates are possible for if you smoke weed.
Factors That Influence Your Rate
There will be a total of 3 main factors that are only going to affect your rate due to your smoking that are outside of the normal factors that influence your rate. Here they are:
Why You Use It
Why you’re smoking makes a slight difference to the life insurance companies. There are normally two reasons to smoke, for good health, or for fun.
For Good Health
If your weed smoking is due to medicinal use, then you can qualify for better rates. In fact, some life insurance companies will give you a healthy nonsmoker rate at no additional cost if all other lifestyle factors are good.
Smoking for Fun
If you like to enjoy the occasional joint to relax yourself, have few laughs and make food taste better then you will have to pick the right companies to apply with. Better yet, work with a professional that can do that for you. When it comes to smoking weed for recreational purposes, not all life insurance companies will give you the same rate. Some companies will classify you as a tobacco user, while some will qualify you for non-smoker rates. The key is in working with an agent that knows the difference. It gets even more complex if there are other factors involved in your overall health and lifestyle profile.
How Often You Smoke
How often you smoke is a big determining factor to qualify for good rates with a life insurance company. Some companies will only offer you nonsmoker rates at preferred health classes if you smoke only a few times a year. To prove this, you would have to test negative for THC during the medical exam. Usually the more frequent the smoking the higher the rate, if its recreational.
The Company You Choose
The life insurance company that you apply with will be the biggest determining factor in the rate you get. Some companies will outright give you a smoker rate while others will weigh different factors to determine your rate. Every life insurance company weighs different risks at different rates. This is why I always mention that you have to work with an agent that is independent, meaning they can apply with any different companies, and an agent familiar with insuring marijuana smokers.
Possible Outcomes
There are many different possible outcomes based on the factors provided that will mostly revolve around reasons for use and frequency. The more frequent the use the less likely you qualify for a non-smoker rate. Some companies are willing to approve you at a nonsmoker rate if you only use it 1 to 2 times a week and few require only 1 to 2 times a month usage. If your marijuana use is daily then you can expect to pay smoker rates, sometimes rated up. This means that the life insurance company will rate you outside of the typical rate classes and into the high risk category.
Best Advice
There are two pieces of advice I can give you when it comes to applying for life insurance with marijuana:
1. Always disclose that you do indeed smoke marijuana.
Not disclosing your smoking habit to the life insurance company will either get you declined for coverage, or deny your claim if you die during the contestable period. If you have any doctors records or failed drug tests in the past the life insurance company will have access to them. Also they will take a medical exam and if any THC is present you will get hit with a smoker rate. At this point your scouts honor about your frequency of we won’t be taken into consideration. The other downfalls that they can deny your claim or subtract from the death benefit if your death is within the first two years. This is known as the contestable period. During this time a life insurance company has the right to contest a claim and investigate further to determine if there was any fraud during your application. The ones to pay for that will be your beneficiaries. You do have the option of skipping the medical exam, but that also comes with the same consequences. And even those policies come with full underwriting.
2. Always work with an independent agent.
There are many factor that go into determining your rate for life insurance and each company looks at each factor differently. Getting life insurance with marijuana use alone can be hard enough, however if there are any other factors involved it will get even trickier. For this reason, it is important that you seek the aid of an independent life insurance agent who has access to all the life insurance companies on the market and knows what to do with them. If your agent doesn’t ask you detailed questions about your marijuana use and overall health, then it is a sign that you are working with a rookie.
Overall those are the two most important things to consider when getting life insurance as someone that smokes weed. The good news for you is you’re starting at the right place. The best way to get the best rate is to work with a professional.
