Best Life Insurance for Smokers in 2022

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 97.4
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 820.5
AM Best Rating: A++
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.19

MoneyGeek's Take: State Farm offers competitive life insurance rates for smokers with rider options to customize the policy. This company is our top choice for smokers seeking affordable and high-quality life insurance plans.

State Farm is most well-known for its first-place market share ranking for auto, commercial and home insurance. But the company also has a robust lineup of life insurance products for smokers and nonsmokers. State Farm offers term, whole life, universal life and final expense insurance (for New York residents only) to meet the life insurance needs of most applicants.

Though smokers pay higher rates than nonsmokers, smokers in otherwise good health can get competitive rates that rival those of nonsmokers. To get the best life insurance rates as a smoker, you'll need to have no significant family history of cancer or heart disease. You should also have a clean driving history in the last three years, exercise regularly and have a healthy BMI. When completing the medical exam, cholesterol levels should be below 175 and blood pressure readings less than 115/70.

State Farm’s Instant Answer Term provides up to $50,000 in coverage for 10 years for applicants up to age 50. Term is the cheapest life insurance option for smokers, and State Farm allows you to convert part or all of the term life insurance policy to a whole life policy without having to requalify for coverage.

State Farm has some of the best term life insurance rates for smokers in good health compared to other providers. If you prefer permanent life insurance, State Farm offers several whole and universal life insurance policies for smokers and nonsmokers. You can also choose from any number of riders to further customize your life insurance, depending on the type of coverage you choose.

Rider benefits include waiver of premium for disability, children's term and guaranteed insurability, which allows you to purchase more life insurance at specific ages without requiring a medical exam or health questions.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term
• Whole life
• Universal life
• Final expense (NY only)

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 80
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 736.4
AM Best Rating: A
NAIC Complaint Index: 1.30

MoneyGeek's Take: Transamerica offers the best life insurance rates for smokers, with coverage amounts ranging from $25,000–$3 million or more. If value-per-dollar is a priority for you, look no further than Transamerica.

Transamerica offers term, final expense, whole and universal life insurance to smokers and nonsmokers. Transamerica considers anyone a smoker if they’ve used any tobacco product — including e-cigarettes, nicotine patches and gum, and vaping liquid that doesn’t contain nicotine — in the last two years before applying for life insurance.

At Transamerica, smokers can get standard or preferred rates based on age, health and coverage amounts. If you smoke one cigar or less per month, you can still qualify for nonsmokers’ rates, though you have to admit to usage in your application and test negative for cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine. Marijuana users who smoke or ingest 12 times or less per year may be able to get standard nonsmoker rates. The best life insurance rate for regular marijuana users is a smoker’s rate, even for those with a valid prescription.

If you are 50 or younger and apply for less than $100,000 in permanent life insurance with Transamerica, you may qualify for no exam life insurance for smokers. Term life insurance applicants can get nonmedical underwriting regardless of risk class for coverage up to $2 million if between 18 and 45 and $1 million up to age 55.

Life insurance companies can gather data to determine your coverage eligibility and health status using accelerated underwriting technology. Applicants who want the lowest pricing must complete a medical exam to get preferred or better life insurance rates for smokers.

Transamerica also offers several rider options to tailor your life insurance even further. Living benefit riders are available, which provide some of your death benefit to you if you are diagnosed with a chronic or critical illness. You may also qualify for long-term care or waiver of premium for disability riders, depending on your answers to health questions on the application.

Policy Types Offered:

• Foreign national life insurance
• Term
• Whole life
• Final expense
• Index universal life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 88.6
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 785.5
AM Best Rating: A+
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.10

MoneyGeek's Take: With two choices for whole life insurance, along with a range of coverage amounts, riders and underwriting programs, Nationwide offers the best whole life insurance rates for smokers.

If you’re considering whole life insurance, Nationwide has the best life insurance policy for smokers. With Nationwide, you have two options for whole life coverage: Nationwide WL 100 and Nationwide 20-Pay WL. They are both the same product, but Nationwide WL 100 requires payments until age 100 while Nationwide 20-Pay WL only requires 20 years of payments. This means if you choose Nationwide 20-Pay WL, your payments will be higher, but your policy will be paid in full 20 years after making the first payment.

At Nationwide, smokers can qualify for standard tobacco and preferred tobacco rates with each life insurance product. For marijuana users, applicant age and frequency of use determine your risk class. Applicants 19 and older can qualify for preferred tobacco rates using up to four times per week, while applicants 41 and above who use five times or less per month may be able to get standard nontobacco rates.

In the insurer’s cigar program, cigar smokers who smoke 12 or fewer cigars a year may qualify for nontobacco preferred plus rates. Smoking five or fewer cigars per month qualifies you for preferred nontobacco rates.

Healthy applicants between the ages of 18 and 50 applying for $100,000–$2 million in coverage, and those aged 51–60 applying for up to $1 million in coverage may qualify for accelerated underwriting, which is no exam life insurance for smokers. You can also choose from a wide range of riders, including premium waiver, accidental death benefit, terminal illness and guaranteed insurability.

Policy Types Offered:

• Nationwide WL 100
• Nationwide 20-pay WL

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 82.8
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 756
AM Best Rating: A+
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.15

MoneyGeek's Take: Whether for recreational or medical use, marijuana is the most common drug used in the country. Prudential recognizes this, offering habitual users some of the best life insurance rates.

Until recently, marijuana users had a tough time finding life insurance. With marijuana usage becoming more common and states legalizing recreational use, some life insurance companies have revamped their underwriting guidelines to reflect this change.

Based on data and rates collected by MoneyGeek, we’ve found that Prudential offers the best life insurance for marijuana smokers. The key to getting the best rates with Prudential is admitting to usage on your application, including frequency and type of usage (smoking, pills, vaping, etc.).

Applicants who use marijuana for medicinal use will be underwritten based on the condition prescribed rather than the actual usage of medicinal marijuana. For recreational users, the rating class is determined by the frequency of use. Recreational users 20 and under will automatically be declined for coverage, as will users 21 and over who test positive for THC but didn’t disclose use on the application.

Recreational marijuana users who use it three times per week or less will not be given a rating based on usage; instead, the rest of their health history and application answers will decide their rating. Four to six uses in a week would mean a table B rating, a substandard rating with higher premiums than the standard tobacco class. Seven or more uses would yield declined coverage.

Age, tobacco use, a history of alcohol or drug treatment and past or present illicit drug use would also factor into your life insurance rate with Prudential. When applying for life insurance, you should never lie on the application, especially about drug and alcohol use. Prudential offers regular marijuana users the chance to get competitive life insurance rates, allowing them to potentially qualify for nonsmoker rates, regardless of how much life insurance coverage they need.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term
• Universal life
• Indexed universal life
• Variable universal life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 84.5
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 758.1
AM Best Rating: A++
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.07

MoneyGeek’s Take: Cigar smokers have the best chance of getting preferred life insurance rates with MassMutual, allowing up to 24 cigars per year for eligibility. When most competitors restrict cigar use to once per month, MassMutual allows users to consume twice as many cigars without paying standard tobacco rates.

MassMutual will only extend nontobacco rates for regular tobacco users if they haven’t used tobacco and nicotine in the last year. You also have to take a urine test as part of the exam process, with negative results for nicotine. However, if you only smoke cigars, MassMutual offers an exception.

With most life insurance companies, cigar smokers can get competitive rates if they smoke 12 or fewer cigars in a year. But sometimes, you want to light up more than once a month. You can enjoy up to 24 cigars each year and still qualify for its Ultra Preferred and Select Preferred nontobacco rates with MassMutual.

To qualify for preferred underwriting, you have to be in excellent health. This means no history of cancer, drug or alcohol abuse or medical impairments. You also can’t participate in risky hobbies or be in a rateable occupation, which means your health is at risk during the daily activities of your job, like being a mechanic or other service technician.

If you’re healthy and qualify but just enjoy the occasional cigar, MassMutual has the best life insurance policy for smokers. Like with marijuana and cigarettes, you have to disclose your cigar usage. You’ll have to provide a urine sample to prove you’re negative for tobacco, but you may qualify to waive any other medical exam based on the rest of your health profile.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Universal life
• Variable universal life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: N/A
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): N/A
AM Best Rating: A
NAIC Complaint Index: N/A

MoneyGeek’s Take: Ethos offers life insurance from several companies, ranging from fully underwritten to guaranteed issue life insurance with a fully online and quick application process. Most applicants qualify for no medical exam life insurance, even smokers.

Ethos is a third-party administrator working with some of the top life insurance companies in the industry: AAA, Ameritas, Legal and General America, Principal and TruStage. You can purchase between $50,000 and $1.5 million in life insurance through Ethos 100% online quote and application process. Many applicants are eligible for no medical exam life insurance, including smokers and nonsmokers.

Applicants between 65 and 85 can apply for up to $30,000 in guaranteed issue whole life insurance. There are no health questions or medical exams, and you are guaranteed coverage as long as you can pay the premiums. Ethos also offers simplified issue term and whole life policies, ranging from $100,000–$1.5 million in coverage for applicants aged 20–65. Simplified issue life insurance requires a few health questions but no medical exam.

Many applicants are approved within 10 minutes after a straightforward online application process. If you’re healthy and want more competitive life insurance rates, you can apply for a fully underwritten policy, which requires a medical exam and uses the results plus your health history to determine your risk class. Once approved, coverage starts immediately once you make the first payment.

With Ethos, you get the choice of no medical exam life insurance, simplified issue or fully underwritten life insurance. After answering a few questions, you’ll be provided options based on your eligibility, so you can choose the policy, coverage and company that meet your life insurance needs.

No medical exam life insurance for smokers may offer better pricing than traditional life insurance with full underwriting and a medical exam. If you smoke, a life insurance policy through Ethos may be the best choice for you.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Final expense
• Whole life