Where there's smoke, there's fire. Unfortunately.
Even though the number of smokers nationwide is in decline, smoking remains the No. 1 cause of home fire fatalities in the United States. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, smoking caused 18,900 residential fires in 2007, killing 595, injuring 1,200 and causing $327 million in residential property loss.
Home insurance companies generally raise their rates if there's a smoker in the household. Will they conversely offer you a discount if your home is smokeless?
"Yes, most companies do that," says Flannagan. "With home insurance, it is one of those underwriting questions that does provide a credit for some policies in some states. It's not a rating tier, however; you don't go to a nonsmoker rate for home insurance the way you do with life insurance."
Nonsmoker credit: 5 percent to 15 percent.