Does smoking affect AUTO insurance??

We got a really interesting question from one of the kids at the driving school last week (for more details, check out the 11/12/08 post on our teen blog www.savon-teendriver.blogspot.com). A young woman asked "I heard that smoking can make your insurance higher?" I replied that I'd never heard of anything like that...we certainly don't have any companies that surcharge for smoking (unless it's a life insurance policy which is a whole 'nother ballgame). But I decided to look into it...

I found that some companies do surcharge for a home policy...which makes sense. A smoker runs a higher risk of burning down the house. I'm sure you've heard stories in the news about a house or apartment catching fire and the cause was a lit cigarette. You also have to take into account that smoking inside your home will lower its value and the value of your possessions (due to the smell and damage caused by the smoke) which, in turn, could affect your premium of a renters or condo policy.

And evidently, auto premiums can be higher for smokers due to the fact that smokers tend to be more reckless drivers.

Again, I've never run into this problem with any of our companies we represent and I was unable to find out what states this affects. Has anyone else heard of this?


Thank you to www.ampminsure.org