We all have them, right? That one thing we do that we don't want anyone else to know about, especially our significant other, or maybe even an insurance underwriter. What kind of thing am I talking about? Smoking of course! Cigars and cigarettes have come up as an unwanted issue in many a case, and while the cigars can be easy to deal with, cigarettes almost always result in a smoker rate, killing many cases when the urine sample comes up positive for nicotine.

Wait....did I say almost always? Yep, I sure did.

That's right; there is a carrier that will offer nonsmoker rates to cigarette users. There has to be a catch, right? No carrier is going to go ahead and give smokers nonsmoker rates and stay in business. At least one I know of tried it, and they have been closed for years at this point. So how does this carrier do it? Well, it's like this:

• The urine sample has to be clean. No ifs, ands or buts.
• No more than 24 "uses" per year for Preferred rates (a use would be smoking a cigarette).
• No more than 12 "uses" per year for Select rates (That's right, they go to best class for this. Crazy, right?).
• The usage MUST be disclosed on the application! No trying to explain things away after the fact.

So which carrier is this? Is it some tiny, fly by night, company that will be out of the life business five years from now? Surprisingly, no. They have excellent ratings (Comdex of 94, A.M. Best rating is A+) and have been around since 1888. Want to know who it is? I'll bet. That tidbit of information is a little too juicy to just hand out to everyone. Time to pick up the phone or send me an email if you want the details.

A word of caution on this: They can tell if you are lying! How? A couple ways. The first is the urine sample. The other is the APS. Those darn doctors take good notes, and any recent notation of smoking habits might just cause a problem if it does not match what is disclosed on the application. So let's start the year off with a clean slate, so to speak, and go deliver some good news to our clients who like to have a cigarette or two, but are not "smokers".