Speak with an experienced advisor! Life insurance for alcoholics is challenging, but it is possible to get. Your health is the most significant factor life insurance companies will consider. They will look at your past and current health condition. Because the healthier you are the lower the risk for the insurance company to pay you out. The better your health is, the more you save on insurance premiums.
Are you worried that a life insurance company will deny you if you’re an alcoholic? Don’t worry you can qualify for coverage. But you need to be aware that the rating class can be very unpredictable and subjective. And there will be a significant increase in premium. The secret to getting the best life insurance for alcoholics and recovering alcoholics is knowing which life insurance company to apply.
Applying for life insurance with a history of alcohol abuse will become easier if you maintain sobriety over time.
If you have a history of alcohol abuse, you should also make sure that you’re in excellent health before applying. Overall health condition matters to life insurance alcohol market when you’re applying for a policy.
LIFE INSURANCE FOR ALCOHOLICS – WHO IS CONSIDERED AN “ALCOHOLIC”?
An alcoholic is a person who suffers from the disease of alcoholism.
An alcoholic’s brain has become dependent on alcohol to function. An alcoholic experiences withdrawal symptoms without a drink.
Alcoholics are unable to control their obsession, including how much they drink and when they drink. This can lead to health problems at home and at work. Alcoholism is a disease with different levels of severity.
Insurance companies want to know if you struggled with alcoholism.
When applying for a fully underwritten term or whole life insurance for alcoholics, you will be asked if you have a history of alcohol abuse through a life insurance alcohol questionnaire. Insurance companies will perform a medical exam where the blood sample will be taken. This sample will be used to screen for alcohol marker and different health conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis, and HIV.
When trying to determine if you’re an alcoholic, insurance companies will ask if you ever sought treatment for alcoholism or if your doctor ever recommended treatment for your alcohol abuse. They will also look if your blood work indicates that you may have an issue with excessive alcohol consumption. If your test comes back positive they will consider you to be a recovering alcoholic.
ALCOHOLISM STATISTICS
- 1 million adults ages 18 and older had Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the United States. This includes 9.8 million men and 5.3 million women.
- About 6.7% of adults who had AUD in the past year received treatment. This includes 7.4% of males and 5.4% of females in this age group.
- About 88,008 people die because of alcohol-related causes annually. In the U.S alcohol is the 3rd leading preventable cause of death
- Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 9,967 deaths
LIFE INSURANCE FOR ALCOHOLICS – HOW DO THEY FIND OUT?
Alcoholics may try to conceal their situation when they are trying to get life insurance coverage for alcoholics. However, life insurance companies use different ways to determine if you have a history of alcoholism. The underwriting process includes:
- Blood testing to know alcohol markers and confirm large amounts of alcohol consumption.
- Asking if you have alcohol abuse on the life insurance application
- Investigating your medical records to know if you ever sought treatment for alcoholism in the past
- Searching your driving records to learn if you have any history of DUI or DWI activity
If you have a history of alcohol abuse, the underwriter will determine whether you are a recovering alcoholic or a current alcoholic.
INFORMATION THE INSURERS NEED TO GIVE YOU LIFE INSURANCE FOR ALCOHOLICS
- What was the date of your initial diagnosis of excessive alcohol abuse?
- Are you being treated for alcohol abuse? Are you following the prescribed treatment?
- Do you currently consume any alcohol? How much?
- When was the last time you have a long drink?
- Do you have any relapses during sobriety?
- Have you ever been arrested for a DUI or DWI?
- Have you attended Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or other similar programs?
- Tobacco use of any kind?
- History of other drug use
- What medications are you taking?
- Do you have any other health problems such as cancer, diabetes, ulcers, etc.?
LIFE INSURANCE FOR ALCOHOLICS AND INSURANCE ELIGIBILITY?
Are you applying for life insurance with less than 5 years of sobriety? Most insurers will treat your application as “high risk”. Your application may be immediately declined or you may be approved with a table rating. There will be an increase in premium to compensate for the higher risk.
Five years of sobriety may seem like a long time, but the insurance companies need that time because there is a high rate of relapse among recovering alcoholics. The risk is thought to be less if you’ve been alcohol-free for more than five years.
Once you get beyond the five-year time frame, your policy will be underwritten based on your overall health and not on history with alcohol.
CAN YOU GET LIFE INSURANCE FOR ALCOHOLICS IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN SOBER FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS?
Those with a history of alcohol abuse could have a more difficult time qualifying for life insurance for alcoholics.
If you just quit drinking and want to purchase a life insurance policy you’ll often need to wait at least two years of sobriety to qualify.
If you’ve been sober for at least five years, you’re ready to apply for the best life insurance rates.
If you haven’t been sober for at least five years, you can apply for a guaranteed issue life insurance policy that won’t require you to take a medical exam or answer any health-related questions. Your options will be limited to $25,000 coverage, and your policy will contain 2-3 year waiting period to cover you for natural causes of death.
HOW ALCOHOLISM IMPACTS YOUR HEALTH
The amount of alcohol you consume doesn’t matter to life insurance companies but they are concerned with your health.
Life insurance and alcohol consumption have a direct impact on your health and decision making, which could impact your health and mortality.
The long-term effects of alcohol include:
Liver damage – Alcohol can cause fatty deposits to develop in the liver. With continued heavy drinking, there will be an inflammation of the liver which can lead to the development of hepatitis, liver failure and death. Excessive alcohol can also cause permanent scarring on the liver which can cause cirrhosis and increase the risk of liver cancer.
Brain damage – Alcohol can kill brain cells by reducing the blood supply to the brain. Permanent brain damage can be caused by long-term drinking as well as severe mental health problems and alcohol dependence. The younger you are when you started excessive drinking the more profound the impact on your brain will be.
Heart health – Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to an increase in hypertension. Increase blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease or stroke. Life insurance companies are mainly concerned with cardiovascular health because a heart attack is the biggest cause of death in the U.S.
Cancer – Alcohol consumption is the second largest cause of certain types of cancer including mouth and throat cancer. Ingesting too much alcohol can cause liver cirrhosis which can lead to liver cancer. Life insurance companies give limited coverage to those who have cancer unless you are willing to pay more for substandard rating.
Insurance companies are going to require being sober for five years before they consider you eligible for a traditional term or whole life insurance policy.
If you just quit alcohol then you are on your way to recovery, you will also be on your way to qualify for life insurance.
Five years may seem a long amount of time to wait. You could die during those five years, and you’ll leave your loved ones with no life insurance protection. Your health could also decline and prevent you from qualifying in the future.
The secret to getting the best whole life and term life insurance rates for an alcoholic is choosing the best life insurance company to apply. Avoid larger insurance carriers that consider alcoholics to be high-risk life insurance because of the clients past alcohol abuse.
CONCLUSION
If you are a recovering alcoholic, you need to make sure that you are in excellent health when you’re applying for life insurance. Aside from maintaining your health, the most critical decision you will make is choosing the life insurance broker to work with you.
We at Life Wealth Win understand everything to get people with a history of alcohol abuse get the best rates possible in their life insurance. We will help you and your family get the life insurance available for you.
We work with clients across the nation to get the best life insurance rates possible. If you have a history of alcohol abuse, we can help you get the best life insurance rates. Call us at (888) 435-4342.
