To disclose or not to disclose…

People don’t like to pay for things. People don’t like to spend on anything. People want life insurance to be cheap BUT…

–They smoke: “don’t say you smoke, it’ll be more expensive!”, but at the time of the claim, if the insurance company finds out you did smoke they can reduce or even deny the claim because of lying on the actual application. And this goes to agents as well, because you don’t want to find yourself having to explain to a grieving family that they won’t be receiving a check because they’re the ones that decided not to put that in the application.

-If you start smoking after you got insured, make sure to let the insurance company know because it also goes back to the previous paragraph. Also if you stop smoking, you can re- qualify at a lower rate!

“Vaping is still considered smoking by almost every single life insurance company available, except one, because of the nicotine still involved in vaping, and the lack of studies surrounding vaping. Vaping and life insurance is too new of a a topic to have enough evidence on long term health, so many companies are still shunning the idea of awarding non-smoker rates to those who have not completely stopped.
All but one.
One company issues non-smoker, and even non-smoker plus ratings to those who have ceased all cigarette smoking for over a year, and vape instead.” This is an example of “enticing the consumer” because they’re telling “all but one”, but “which one?” and then you have to apply for a policy…

-They drive without a driver license: yes, people do drive unlicensed. If you apply for a life insurance policy and don’t have a driver license and you’re an adult, they will ask “why doesn’t the insurer drive?” and people will be tempted in lying, such as saying “I get driven around, I take the bus” but the truth of the matter is that if a person does drive without a driver license, it is an automatic denial. I should know after two different cases, even after sending the insurance companies (three different ones by the way) proof that they have car insurance (you would be surprised with what type of documentation people get car insurance or even register a car under their name) and the insured was still rejected for that. The explanation is the same as in the first example, if you’re an agent you don’t want that mess on your hands…

Insurance companies do verify your information…

My advice is to always say the truth, it avoids headaches for your family. If you’re an agent and you lie on these little things, just know it’ll come back at some point. And speaking of agents, make sure to always do the right plan for families, become a student of the products and if you don’t know, call the providers. There’s always room for improvement, even myself I don’t consider myself an insurance genius and everything I’ve posted on this site has been from talking to the providers and learning.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or you can email me directly.