Funeral Insurance for Smokers: Cost, Rules and Your Options

Smokers can usually buy funeral insurance, but they usually pay more for it. Funeral insurance, also called burial or final expense insurance, is a small life insurance policy meant to pay for your funeral. The Texas Department of Insurance says a company can charge you more if you smoke. A burial insurance brokerage, Choice Mutual, says to expect to pay 30 to 40 percent more if you answer yes to the tobacco question on a policy with health questions. Guaranteed issue policies, which ask no questions, don't change the price for tobacco use.

Can you get funeral insurance if you smoke?

In most cases, yes. Tobacco use mainly changes what you pay, not whether you can buy a policy. What can lead to a decline is health history. Choice Mutual says an application with health questions can end in approval, a decline, or an offer with a partial or complete waiting period, depending on your answers.

You have two broad routes:

• A policy that asks health questions. There is usually no medical exam. If you are accepted, the full benefit can be paid from the first day, and the price depends on your answers, including tobacco use.
• A guaranteed issue policy. There are no health questions, so you can't be turned down on health. It typically has a waiting period of two to three years, according to NerdWallet, and costs more.

Our guides on funeral insurance with no medical exam and funeral insurance with pre-existing conditions explain how each route works for people with health problems.

How much more do smokers pay?

Choice Mutual says to expect to pay 30 to 40 percent more if you answer yes to its tobacco question on a policy with health questions. It adds that on guaranteed issue policies, tobacco use and prior health issues won't change the premium. Those are one brokerage's figures, and individual insurers vary. Washington's insurance regulator also says your health history and life choices, such as smoking, play a key role in the cost of a policy.

The same brokerage publishes sample monthly rates for $10,000 of cover at a non-tobacco rating (valid as of March 2026). Applying its 30 to 40 percent estimate to those rates gives a rough idea of the smoker price. This is our arithmetic, not a quote.

Compare those with guaranteed issue. NerdWallet's September 2026 figures from Choice Mutual for $10,000 of guaranteed issue whole life are $64 a month for a 70-year-old woman and $87 for a 70-year-old man. On these sample numbers, the gap between a health-question policy and a guaranteed issue policy shrinks once a tobacco surcharge applies. At 70, the guaranteed issue figures are lower than the surcharged estimates, although the two sets of rates come from different calculations. A guaranteed issue policy still usually pays only your premiums back for a natural death in the waiting period, so the cheaper monthly price is not the whole picture. Get a quote for both types.

What counts as tobacco use?

Each insurer decides. Choice Mutual's quote form asks whether you have used any tobacco in the last 12 months. Other companies write their own definitions, and the details can differ on:

• cigars and pipes
• vaping and e-cigarettes
• chewing tobacco and nicotine pouches
• nicotine gum, patches and lozenges
• marijuana

Ask the agent how the company treats each one you use, and how far back it looks. Get the answer in writing. If you are unsure whether something counts, ask rather than guess.

Why honesty on the application matters

The tobacco question can feel like a way to be priced out, so some people are tempted to skip it. It is the question to be most careful with. The Texas Department of Insurance says that for the first two years of a policy, the company can review your application if you die, and it can deny payment if it finds wrong information. That can happen even if the wrong answer had nothing to do with the cause of death. If it denies the claim, it must return the premiums.

Washington's regulator says providing false health information could lead to cancellation of the policy or no payment of benefits to your beneficiary. Insurers also check what you tell them. NerdWallet reports that they can look at databases that hold your prescription history.

The application will also ask about your health history. Answer those questions fully too. Our guide to funeral insurance exclusions covers other things a policy won't pay for.

Can you get a lower rate if you quit?

Possibly, but it varies. The CDC says quitting smoking improves your health and lowers your risk of heart disease, cancer, lung disease and other smoking-related illnesses. For insurance, whether your price drops depends on the company:

• Ask whether the insurer will re-rate a policy you already hold. If it will not, getting the lower rate means applying for a new policy.
• A new policy means a new application and a new two-year contestable period. The Texas Department of Insurance says life policies have a two-year contestable period, and that a reinstated lapsed policy gets a new one.
• Switching can also mean new health questions, and your health may have changed since you first applied.

Ask any insurer you are considering whether it re-rates after you quit, how long you must be tobacco-free first, and what proof it asks for. If you want help quitting, the CDC lists the quit line 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669).

How can you keep the cost down?

• Get quotes with the tobacco answer set to yes and to no. You see the surcharge for yourself, and you can plan for it.
• Size the benefit to your plan. Washington's regulator says funeral insurance benefits typically run from $5,000 to $25,000. Choice Mutual's sample rate for $5,000 of cover at a non-tobacco rating is $22 a month for a 65-year-old woman and $29 for a 65-year-old man, against $41 and $54 for $10,000. Our guide on how much funeral insurance you need shows how to work out an amount.
• Compare an independent agent's quotes. Rates vary by company, and Texas advises getting quotes from several.
• Weigh it against saving. Washington warns that what you pay in premiums may cost more than your funeral. A payable-on-death account is another way to set money aside, and you keep it if you never need it for a funeral.
• Keep the policy in force. Texas says a policy lapses if you miss a payment and the 31-day grace period ends. See lapsed funeral insurance.

For older applicants, see funeral insurance for seniors for age limits and sample costs at 65 to 85, and the best age to buy funeral insurance for the timing trade-off.

What to do next

1. Decide roughly what funeral you want, and price it from a funeral home's General Price List.
2. Ask an agent for a quote on a policy with health questions, using your true tobacco answer, and for a guaranteed issue quote.
3. Ask how the insurer defines tobacco use and whether it re-rates after you quit.
4. Read the waiting period and contestable period terms before you sign, and use the free look period.
5. Tell your family where the policy is, and write down your wishes.