Successful Ganjapreneur Denied Life Insurance
Cannabis CEO Denied Life Insurance Due to His Weed Business from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
Mutual of Omaha doesn’t welcome marijuana businessmen and employees.
Derek Peterson, successful CEO of Terra Tech, was shocked to find out that he was denied life insurance by Mutual of Omaha which is one of the country’s largest insurance companies. The reason was because of his connection to his hugely successful publicly-traded company.
While it’s common for ganjapreneurs to be lose bank accounts because of the nature of their business, getting denied an insurance policy is a rare complaint. Among Peterson’s state-legal business ventures are large cannabis agricultural and retail facilities located in Oakland, Nevada, and on the East Coast.
It’s still unclear why Peterson’s application was rejected although it is suspected that Mutual of Omaha was being too cautious. Even though half the country’s states already have cannabis regulations in place, federal law states that cannabis is still illegal. It could be a possibility that the insurance company had concerns about money laundering.
According to Peterson, he was upfront about his marijuana usage on his insurance application and that the company probably did some research on his businesses.
Insurance Company Policies Differ
Getting an insurance policy shouldn’t be a problem for marijuana users. While the frequency of your habit could have an impact on your premium, most insurance companies are happy to offer a plan that fits your budget despite your marijuana use.
Given the increase in marijuana use and changes in public attitudes, life insurance companies have also become more lenient over the past two decades. Prior to that, if you used marijuana and it was discovered through a urine test, you can be sure to get outright rejected by an insurance company, but times have changed.
You can still get good life insurance rates if you have a medical marijuana prescription. Other factors that can affect the rate includes overall health and the illness the medical marijuana is being prescribed for. If you are a recreational cannabis user, you might not be entitled to nonsmoking insurance rates but some companies might be able to offer you the standard nonsmoking rates.
While some companies already have a marijuana policy, some are still figuring out what to offer marijuana users. The guidelines and policies for marijuana users is expected to continue to change in the coming years.
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