Burial insurance for smokers is absolutely possible—even if you currently smoke cigarettes, enjoy an occasional cigar, or use nicotine in other forms. While traditional life insurance often pushes smokers into higher rate classes or stricter underwriting, final expense and burial insurance is built for real-world situations where health and lifestyle risks exist. The result is a simpler approval process, smaller benefit amounts that match final expenses, and permanent coverage that can stay in force for life.

At Diversified Insurance Brokers, we help smokers compare burial insurance options across multiple carriers because “smoker” is not defined the same way everywhere. Some companies treat any nicotine use as tobacco, while others are more flexible with cigars, chewing tobacco, or vaping. The carrier you choose can impact pricing, whether you qualify for immediate coverage, and how many health questions you will have to answer.

If you have been declined for other types of coverage, it can also help to understand how burial insurance fits into the broader high-risk market. This resource on high-risk life insurance explains why carrier selection matters when underwriting gets complicated, even though many burial policies keep the process far simpler than fully underwritten coverage.

Instant Burial Insurance Quotes for Smokers

Run quick comparisons for smoker pricing and benefit amounts using the calculator below.

How Burial Insurance Companies Classify Smokers

In the burial insurance market, “smoker” typically means recent nicotine use, but the details vary. Some carriers treat cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and vaping the same. Others have more nuanced categories, which is why it matters whether your nicotine use is daily, occasional, or former. A person who smokes cigarettes every day may be priced differently than someone who has a cigar a few times per year, even though both technically use tobacco products.

Many carriers also have a lookback period that determines when you can move from a tobacco rate class to a non-tobacco class. That is why two smokers with the same age and benefit amount can receive very different premiums depending on the carrier’s rules and how recently nicotine was used.

If you are comparing burial coverage to larger, more traditional policies, you may also want to review life insurance for smokers to see how tobacco classifications can affect underwriting in the fully underwritten market versus the simplified burial market.

Why Burial Insurance Often Works When You Smoke

Burial insurance is designed to approve more applicants. Most policies are simplified issue, meaning there is usually no medical exam and no lab work. Instead, carriers rely on a short set of health questions, prescription checks, and other basic eligibility rules. Because the coverage amounts are relatively small and the product is intended for final expenses, the underwriting is often more forgiving than what you would see on larger traditional life insurance applications.

Smokers who also have other controlled conditions often find burial insurance to be the most realistic way to secure permanent coverage. For example, clients managing more complex profiles—such as diabetes with complications—frequently discover that a burial policy can provide clearer, faster outcomes than trying to force-fit a fully underwritten policy when timing and simplicity matter most.

When Smokers Can Still Get Day-One Coverage

Many smokers can qualify for level benefit burial insurance, which is designed to pay the full death benefit immediately for natural and accidental causes (subject to policy terms). Day-one coverage is more likely when tobacco use is the primary risk factor and there are no major recent complications such as frequent hospitalizations, severe COPD limitations, or other conditions that trigger a graded or guaranteed issue structure.

It is also common for older adults to have more than one underwriting factor at the same time—such as smoking plus build concerns, blood pressure, or cholesterol. When that is the case, the best outcome usually comes from matching your profile to the carrier that treats your combination most favorably. For build-related comparisons, this resource on burial insurance for overweight people is useful because some carriers are noticeably more competitive when age and build are both in play.

Case Study: Smoker Approved With Immediate Coverage

Client profile: A 59-year-old smoker looking for $15,000 of coverage after being discouraged by traditional life insurance pricing.

Outcome: A simplified-issue burial policy was selected that provided immediate level benefits. Premiums reflected tobacco use, but the coverage was permanent and predictable, and the approval process avoided the delays and friction that often come with exam-based underwriting. The benefit amount was aligned with final expense goals so the monthly cost stayed within budget.

Stories like this are common in the final expense market because burial insurance is built for the exact situations where traditional underwriting becomes frustrating: modest benefit needs, time-sensitive goals, and applicants who want a simpler path to permanent coverage.

Other Lifestyle and Health Factors Carriers Consider

Smoking matters, but it is rarely the only thing a carrier evaluates. In the final expense market, carriers often weigh your overall picture: the type of nicotine used, frequency, age, mobility, and whether you have conditions that can raise claim risk more than tobacco alone. In many cases, respiratory diagnoses and severe limitations can matter more than the act of smoking itself.

When multiple underwriting factors exist, shopping is the difference between an expensive guaranteed issue solution and a more affordable simplified issue policy. If your main concern is that prior declines have put you in a “hard to insure” category, it is worth revisiting the bigger picture using the high-risk life insurance guide so you understand why different carriers reach different outcomes.

How Diversified Insurance Brokers Helps Smokers

For smokers, the biggest advantage of working through an independent comparison process is avoiding the “one carrier, one outcome” problem. Diversified Insurance Brokers helps you compare multiple final expense options, understand what each carrier considers tobacco use, and identify whether level benefit coverage is realistic or whether a graded or guaranteed issue structure makes more sense for your situation.

The goal is to keep the application simple while still selecting a plan structure that protects your family the way burial insurance is intended to: quick access to funds, predictable premiums, and a benefit amount that matches final expenses without unnecessary complexity.