Important Tips For Marijuana Users Before You Buy Life Insurance

If you use marijuana, whether recreationally or medicinally, you’re likely to have questions about your need for life insurance to protect your surviving loved ones. There are methods you can implement to make certain you get the lowest rate possible and make the purchasing process as easy as possible. Read on for the most important tips for marijuana users.

Know How much Insurance You Need before You Shop

Knowing how much insurance to purchase is at the top of the FAQ lists we see published on a regular basis. Most people make the mistake of accepting the “that sounds good” advice from their agent rather than actually calculating their insurance needs. Life insurance is not a one-size-fits-all product. Everyone has individual needs that must be addressed in order to properly protect their surviving loved ones.

The best way to calculate your insurance needs is to use a financial needs analysis calculator that takes into consideration the financial difficulties your survivors are likely to experience after the death of a primary wage earner. After you have determined the financial needs for your surviving loved ones, you will have an accurate idea for the death benefit of your policy. If you cannot afford to cover the entire amount, start with what is currently affordable to you and add to it later.

Fully Underwritten or No Medical Exam Insurance

You can purchase your life insurance at the lowest possible rates if you use an insurance product that is fully underwritten. This means that in order for the insurer to offer the lowest rates possible, the underwriter will require significant medical information about you and will order a medical exam that typically includes a blood and urine specimen.

With many marijuana friendly companies available, you need not worry about paying sky-high rates or even being declined coverage unless your health history indicates life-threatening illnesses or diseases. A marijuana smoker may even be rated as a non-smoker if there is no indication of tobacco use.

If in your opinion, a medical exam will cause more problems than benefits, you may want to elect a no-exam insurance product. Although the rates tend to be higher for a no medical exam policy, you’re less likely to get a decline if you have lingering health issues. For applicants who need insurance quickly, the no medical exam policy is typically approved within 48 hours.

If you are unwilling to answer a lot of health questions or undergo a medical exam, you may want to consider a “guaranteed issue” policy. These policies are typically indicated for older consumers who need a small amount of life insurance to cover final expenses such as funeral costs and nursing home expenses. Since there is little to no health underwriting, they are more expensive and have a two to three year waiting period before they will pay a death benefit for death resulting from natural causes.

What to Expect from the Underwriter

Your expectations during the underwriting process will depend on the type of policy you are looking to purchase.

• Lowest Price and Fully Underwritten: These policies require an in-depth application with a substantial number of questions about your health history and that of your family. After reviewing the questionnaire (application), the underwriter will request supporting documents such as an APS (attending physician statement) from each health practitioner listed on your application, along with a medical exam.

• Affordable Priced No Medical Exam: These policies, which are priced higher than the fully underwritten policy, do not include a medical exam but have a fairly extensive medical questionnaire on the application. The policy will cost you more but will be issued much faster than the policy that is fully underwritten.

• Guaranteed Issue: A guaranteed issue policy includes only a few medical questions (3 or 4) and can typically be issued almost instantaneously since the only reports the underwriter requests (RX and MIB) are done electronically. Most applicants can purchase these policies over the phone or online at the agent’s website. Although the death benefit is available from day one for accidental death, the policy will have a two or three year waiting period for death resulting from natural causes.

How Marijuana Use will affect Your Rate

Your marijuana use will generally have little impact on your rates if you ingest edibles rather than smoke it. Depending on the insurance product you select, the largest impact is being assigned a smoker rate if you smoke it. There are, however, several insurance companies that will allow non-smoker rates if you smoke marijuana infrequently.

A few insurers will even assign a preferred rate if you smoke marijuana less than three times per month and do not use any tobacco products. All companies will also take into consideration your height and weight and health history before establishing a final rate.

Find a Broker who is an Expert in Life Insurance for Marijuana Users

The easiest way to strike up a conversation with an independent agent who specializes in life insurance for marijuana users is to perform a search with your favorite search engine. Simply use the following search terms to discover independent agents that can offer the most affordable insurance solutions: “Life Insurance Marijuana” or click here for Marijuana Life Insurance 360.

Although your search will return over 500,000  hits, you can use those independent agents listed on the first few pages to consider which would work best to answer your questions and meet your needs. Typically the most experienced agents who specialize in life insurance for marijuana users will have posted several articles regarding the subject and those agents that have been around for a while and contribute quality content will be found on the first few pages of your search.

The Best Tips for Marijuana Users