Life Insurance for Alcohol Addiction
We’ve put together this article so you’ll know how life insurance is shopped with a history of alcohol addiction.
Life Insurance Blog simply helps you find the best life insurance companies even with a history of alcohol abuse. We’ll research and provide you the best life insurance companies for recovering alcoholics.
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How to buy life Insurance with an alcohol addiction
Required Tools:
Things Needed?
Steps to get approved
Top 10 Tips
Finding and qualifying for life insurance for alcohol addiction can be a difficult journey that’s why we listed 10 helpful tips below.
Trying to find the top life insurance companies on your own is even more difficult with a history of alcoholism.
The best life insurance company will depend on a variety of factors.
We’re going to help you understand everything you need to know in order to secure life insurance and protect what’s most important to you.
TIP #1
Life Insurance with a History of Alcoholism
The life insurance companies do their homework on health risks.
Alcoholism is a risk due to the nature of excessive drinking and its potential negative effects on your health and behavior.
Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to a variety of unfavorable outcomes such as:
- Medical problems
- Poor Professional & Work performance
- Legal issues
- Family and Social problems
When someone is an alcoholic, there are often lifestyle and health situations that can increase your mortality risk.
All of these risks are concerning to life insurance companies and will cause you to pay a higher premium for your life insurance. If you have a combination another pre-existing health condition and a history of alcohol abuse- you may even run the risk of being denied life insurance.
TIP #2
What are the Life Insurance Risk Factors for Alcoholics
The risk factors for alcohol abuse that life insurance companies are concerned with include:
- Alcohol consumption that occurs during early ages increase the risk of abuse or alcohol dependence
- Women are less likely than men of becoming an alcoholic. Women have a higher risk of having a medical complication that is tied to drinking alcohol (liver disease).
- There is a higher risk for alcohol abuse for those that have a family history; mother or father who were an alcoholic.
- There is a greater likelihood that an alcoholic has anxiety, depression or another mental health disorder compared to someone who doesn’t abuse alcohol.
- Driving under the influence. Life insurance with a DUI is a challenge because it is a dangerous risk.
TIP #3
Why Alcoholism is Risky to Life Insurance Companies
Life insurance companies are experts at identifying any type of risk. Just because alcohol abuse is a health condition that usually is not fatal…
…it is very risky to life insurance companies.
Alcoholism falls into a high risk life insurance category. The reason is because it can sometimes lead to situations and behaviors that can cause an early death.
Some of these situations and behaviors that life insurance companies find risky include:
- Death caused by driving under the influence of alcohol.
- An overall decrease in your health due to a prolonged time of excessive consumption of alcohol.
- Alcohol can make you impulsive and impair your judgement – leading to an accidental death.
- Participating in dangerous and risky activities under the influence of alcohol.
- You are more likely to participate in activities that are criminal which has shown to shorten one’s lifespan.
TIP #4
What Life Insurance Companies Look For
Life insurance companies are in the business of evaluating risk. They want to know that you’re going to live a long time before they issue a life insurance policy. Whenever there are risks involved, life insurance companies will either raise your rate to take care of the increase risk – or just decline the application altogether.
With regards to alcoholism, the life insurance companies will want to see a couple of things.
- Have you received full treatment for alcohol abuse?
- Have you completed all of the follow up visits that your doctor has ordered?
When you’re ready to apply, the life insurance company will be researching the following underwriting details:
- What was your age at the time of diagnosis?
- What is the duration of time since you’ve been diagnosed?
- What are your elevated liver enzymes?
- Do you have any DUI or DWI convictions?
- Are you in treatment or recovery?
- What is the duration of time since your treatment ended or recovery?
- Was the treatment successful and did you stick to the recommended treatment?
- Did you follow your doctor’s recommendations and visit your physician?
- Do you use drugs or tobacco?
- Do you still drink alcohol?
- You you have any other health conditions or risks?
TIP #5
How Will the Life Insurance Company Find Out About Your Alcoholism?
When you have a health condition, use tobacco or have a risk factor like alcoholism there sometimes is an attempt to hide the risky history from the life insurance company.
Life insurance companies know this and use several ways of finding your risk factors.
- Life insurance companies will ask about your alcohol use on the life insurance application. If you were to die and the life insurance company investigates – they can withhold paying a death benefit based on fraud.
- Results of your blood test. A medical exam is a common feature of a fully underwritten life insurance policy. High alcohol consumption can be flagged from the results of your exam.
- An investigation of your medical records will reveal if you have ever sought treatment for alcoholism in the past. Medical records. Another common part of the underwriting process is to review medical records. If you’ve been treated for alcoholism or your doctor has information on alcohol abuse – the life insurance company will find out.
- A search of your driving records will indicate any history of DUI/DWI activity. Life insurance companies also have access to your Motor Vehicle Report. If you’ve had a DWI or DUI, it will come up on your MVR.
The underwriter at the life insurance company will have to categorize you in two ways: Are your a current alcoholic? -or- Are you a recovering alcoholic? The timeline of all of these risks factors will be key.
TIP #6
Life Insurance for the Recovering Alcoholic VS. Current Alcoholic
Will you be denied life insurance or will you be approved? The key to qualifying for affordable life insurance will be which category you fall under.
Recovering alcoholic or Currently alcohol drinker?
If you’re still drinking alcohol, the majority of life insurance companies will see you as too much of a risk. They will simply deny your application. The timing of your application might be the most important factor with your life insurance application.
The life insurance company is going to want to see that you haven’t used alcohol for quite some time before they approve you at a Standard or better rate. Typically, if you’ve used alcohol over the past 5 years you’re going to get substandard rates.
Substandard means a more expensive policy than standard rates.
You may be thinking…
…5 years is a long time!
However, the life insurance company wants that amount of time to pass due to the high incidence of relapse from alcoholics. This risk is much less when you’re free from alcohol for more than 5 years.
Here’s the good news.
As soon as you get past the 5 year timeline, your life insurance policy will typically be underwritten based on your general health.
It won’t be focused on your alcohol history. You should not hesitate applying for life insurance when you’ve been alcohol free for five years.
TIP #7
What If You’ve had Alcohol in the past 5 Years?
When you’ve had alcohol in the past 5 years, it can get a little tricky. The simple solution would be to just wait until your 5th year of sobriety. The downside to this solution is when you don’t have any life insurance in place.
You’re putting your family at risk.
Putting off an application is very risky.
Your overall health could worsen from related or unrelated alcohol issues. You will also pay higher rates by waiting because age is a major factor with cost of life insurance.
If you were to die while waiting for the 5 years rule to pass, you’re risking everything. This puts you in a position of needing to do something to get life insurance even though you are within the five-year limit.
This is a very difficult position to be in, but you need to act now.
That’s why it is very important to work with an independent life insurance agent like Life Insurance Blog. We’re specialists in high risk life insurance and will find you the best life insurance companies for alcoholism.
TIP #8
How much will life insurance cost?
There are many factors that are involved in what you’ll ultimately pay for your life insurance policy. Here are 3 basic examples of what life insurance will cost for heavy drinkers and those with alcoholism.
These sample rates are based on a $500,000 20 year term life insurance policy.
Example 1: Best Case Scenario
William applied for term life insurance when he was 51 year old.
- Received diagnosis of alcoholism at age 41
- William’s treatment was successful and was documented thoroughly in his medical records.
- William does not drink alcohol anylonger.
- William does not smoke or use tobacco products.
- William’s was approved at a Standard Plus health rating class.
- Premium: $146 per month.
Example 2: A Worse Scenario
Shelly put in an application for term life insurance at age 40.
- Shelly received her diagnosis at age 37
- She has had some favorable follow up visits with her doctor
- She is a non-smoker
- Shelly was approved for a Table 2 Substandard Rating
- Premium: $59.72
Example 3: The Worst Scenario
Bob applied for his term life insurance at age 59.
- Bob never received an official diagnosis
- Bob didn’t believe he drank excessively or abused alcohol.
- Bob’s medical exam results revealed an elevated liver enzyme count
- Bob hasn’t been to his physician in approximately four years
- Based on this information Bob was declined life insurance
William (example #1) had the very best outcome do to the length of time since he diagnosed and treated. William followed up with his physician and showed success with treatment.
Shelly had only been diagnosed and treated less than 3 years. She didn’t have any other health conditions which helped her situation. However, she didn’t have as favorable of an outcome as William due to the short amount of time since her diagnosis.
Bob’s outcome was the worst case scenario. He wasn’t getting treatment, his liver enzymes were elevated, and he was not taking any action toward correcting these issues. He received a decline due to these factors along with not visiting his doctor regularly.
TIP #9
Don’t Apply with the Wrong Life Insurance Company
When you are known to abuse alcohol, not all life insurance companies are the same. First, you absolutely need to be sure that your overall health is great.
The state of your overall health is a significant factor in finding the right company. Your overall health is important, but what might be the second most important factor is selecting a life insurance agent who specializes in high risk.
Before you apply for a life insurance policy, your agent will ask you specific questions to eliminate companies that will be more expensive. When you have a health risk or condition, your best chance at securing coverage is working with an independent life insurance agent. Your agent will be the single best resource for you.
Their job is to research all the life insurance companies and find the ones that have a history of approving life insurance for users of alcohol. They also avoid the companies that will lean toward declining life insurance for alcohol abuse. That’s extremely important and often overlooked.
Companies cater to specific “niches” in order to be the top carrier in specific markets. So certain life insurance companies may be better for certain situations. In other words, not all companies are great for conditions like Thyroid disease, Colitis, Cardiomyopathy….or Alchohol.
You see, when you’re declined life insurance from one company, it can cause problems for you when you apply with other life insurance companies.
TIP #10
Your Life Insurance Agent Makes All the Difference
If your life insurance agent is a high risk specialist, they will Quick Quote your case or prequalify you.
This is the difference between a…
…great agent and a regular agent.
Your agent will contact the life insurance companies directly and find the companies who may accept you.
This is not an application and you won’t risk receiving a life insurance denial. This is just a researching stage to find who will give you the best chance of approving you a life insurance policy with a history of alcohol abuse. An application will only be submitted once all the companies have responded with their initial response. This way you’re shopping before your application and avoiding the risk of a life insurance decline.
Choosing the right life insurance agent can either make or break your ability to secure affordable life insurance and avoid a decline.
We understand that many people drink alcohol and consume it responsibly. At Life Insurance Blog, we are experts in finding the best companies based on your history and use of alcohol. We won’t judge you and we’ll only work with the specific facts as well as the life insurance underwriters until we find a solution.
Call us and let us help you secure the best life insurance policy today.
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