If you are a tobacco chewer and are thinking about buying a term life insurance policy, you may be wondering how your tobacco use will affect your insurance rates. The quick answer is that it depends upon the insurance company that you are getting a quote from. In addition, you have to be careful when answering questions about your health when applying for life insurance because every insurance company will want to know if you are a cigarette smoker, but this is a different type of tobacco use.

Always be honest about your chewing

Never lie on a life insurance application. People think that all they need to do is not list tobacco chewing on their application, and the insurance company will never know. The problem is that if there is an issue with tobacco chewing and the insurance company is not aware of this, there will be an automatic reason to reject a claim filed by your beneficiary upon your death. Your premium payments will have been for nothing, and your loved one will get no money. This can happen even if your death is not related to chewing tobacco. By lying on your application, you have given an insurance company an excuse to not pay out a claim, and they do not like to pay claims unless they have to.

There is no reason to lie about chewing tobacco

If your biggest fear for higher insurance premiums is that you chew tobacco, then you can relax. There are plenty of insurance companies that will not charge you more money because of the use of chewing tobacco. You need to understand that there is a difference between chewing and smoking tobacco, and as long as you do not smoke, you can get a low cost policy. When an insurance company asks about tobacco use, you need to disclose your use of chewing tobacco, but make it clear that you are not a cigarette smoker. For many insurance companies, there is a big difference, and the premium rates will reflect this. There are many life insurance companies that do not penalize a person for chewing tobacco, and it is these companies that you need to focus on getting quotations from.

What about a urine sample?
This can be a problem for tobacco chewers, because there is no way to determine whether the nicotine has come from smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco. A tobacco chewer cannot take a urine test because the test result will be positive for nicotine. There are only two alternatives. You can refrain from chewing tobacco for 48 hours to pass the test, or you can get a policy from a company that does not require a urine test. The latter solution is much easier, and it will not cost you more when buying a policy from this type of insurance company. Many life insurance companies that charge more for tobacco smokers, but not tobacco chewers, will not require a drug test. They will simply look at the cause of death and deny the claim if it was related to cigarette smoking. It is only a question of finding this type of insurance company.

The solution to finding a low cost policy
The best way to approach the issue of shopping for an insurance policy as a tobacco chewer is to let the professionals do the work for you. There are websites on the Internet that can provide quotations to several insurance companies simultaneously. Make sure you inform them of your tobacco chewing, so they will not waste their time getting quotes from insurance companies that will penalize you for this form of tobacco use. They will know which companies are best to get quotes from. They know which insurance companies do not care about tobacco chewing and the ones that do not require a urine test. In addition, by doing this, you will have several companies competing for your business, and this leads to lower premium rates.