Today is Daffodil Day.

Daffodil Day is about raising the public’s awareness of Cancer and donating to the Cancer Society.

For us life insurance guys, cancer is always top of mind, because cancer is such a significant disease and one that many people insure for.

Insurance won’t stop you getting cancer, unfortunately. But it can help to make your life easier or the lives of your family and dependants. People take out life insurance so that if they die from cancer, their family can survive financially. Some people also take out Cancer Cover which pays them a cash lump sum, tax free, in the event that they are diagnosed with cancer and survive. The money can be extremely helpful in allowing sufferers to restructure their lives, pay medical bills, pay off the mortgage or help make up lost income.

See Cancer Cover online.

Cancer statistics in New Zealand are pretty scary

·1 in 6 people will be diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 30 and 64.

·Cancer is the leading cause of death in New Zealand, accounting for almost 30 percent of deaths, slightly more than non-congenital heart diseases.

·For females, the biggest cancer killer is breast cancer (17% of all female cancer deaths)

·For males, the biggest cancer killer is lung cancer (21% of male cancer deaths) however the highest ‘incidence’ of cancer is prostate cancer (25% of cancer cases diagnosed).

Click here to go to the Cancer Society website.

Following all the recent New Zealand media hype surrounding the recent banning of Kronic it seems there are a lot of Kiwi’s who don’t mind the occasional joint – even if it’s the synthetic version. Cannabis It is the most widely used of all recreational drugs today, and is used by people of all walks of life. According to The United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC), more than 8% of Kiwi’s use cannabis on a regular basis. That’s approximately 320,000 regular puffers out there. That same agency tells us that of people aged 16 to 64, about 13.4% have an occasional joint. By my reckoning, that would be approximately 400, 000 occasionally mellow Kiwi’s.

Which begs the question, does the disclosure of cannabis use make one ineligible for life insurance?

Good news for potheads… dope use on its own is not something that will make you ineligible for a life insurance policy.

Most life insurance questionnaires ask whether you have used any illegal drugs in the past. If the answer is yes, you still should be able to qualify for life insurance.  For example, the online application process at www.pinnaclelife.co.nz allows social users of cannabis to purchase life cover without a price loading. The proviso being that the usage is occasional. Most insurers will ask you to fill in supplementary questionnaire on your drug use and heavy users of cannabis can expect to incur additional loadings if usage is deemed to be moderate or excessive.

The most important principle in any life insurance application is to ensure full disclosure at the time of application so the policy can’t be challenged when the time comes to make a claim. Understandably, when it comes to drug use, applicants may be hesitant to supply information about personal use for fear of reprisal. However, any health information provided to an insurer cannot be provided to any government agency or other persons without the express permission of the applicant.

So if you’re applying for a policy… tell all about your use of drugs and then chill out; your high time secrets are entirely safe with a trustworthy insurer.