How Does Smoking Affect Life Insurance Rates? 
Smoking generally increase rates for a healthy person to about three times of what they would be for nonsmoker of similar health . If a smoker quits smoking and then applies for life insurance , the rate usually starts out as standard nonsmoker after one year of quitting . Then the rates gradually getting better with each year , until an average of 5 years out , when the rates are the same as they would have been if the person never smoked . 