Paying extra for health insurance because you use tobacco?
Free · under 2 minutes · no fees unless we recover for you
Do you qualify?
You may have a claim if…
You pay (or paid) a tobacco or nicotine surcharge through a workplace health plan, and…
- You were never told how to avoid itNo stop-smoking program or alternative offered when you enrolled.
- Or you finished a program and got no refundThe fee stopped, but the months already taken weren't returned.
- Or your plan materials never mentioned a way outOr that your own doctor's advice would count.
Amounts are illustrations of how a surcharge adds up, not a prediction of any recovery. You do not have to have quit tobacco to qualify.
How it works
Three steps. We handle everything in between.
You just need to know what came out of your paycheck. We do the legal work.
Answer a few questions.
Who your employer is, roughly what the surcharge costs, and whether you were told how to avoid it. That's it.
Check your eligibility ~2 minutesWe review your plan. You track it.
Send a pay stub if you have one. We pull your plan's documents, check whether the required alternative and notices were there, and keep you posted in plain English.
Get paid. It's that simple.
If we recover, you get your share of the surcharges taken from your pay. Our fee comes out of the result — never your pocket. If there's no recovery, you owe nothing.
Start nowWhy it may be illegal
A tobacco surcharge is only legal if the employer follows all four rules.
Miss one, and the money collected can be recovered.
A real way to avoid it
A stop-smoking program or other alternative anyone can complete — whether or not they quit.
Common miss: none offered.
Clear notice of it
Every plan document mentioning the fee must explain the alternative and that your doctor's advice counts.
Common miss: buried or missing.
The full refund
Complete the alternative and you get the full reward — including money already taken that year.
Common miss: no refund back.
A legal cap
Never more than 50% of the total cost of coverage, and designed to promote health — not to pad the employer's budget.
Common miss: fee offsets employer costs.
Source: ERISA § 702, 29 U.S.C. § 1182(b) and the federal wellness-program regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 2590.702(f). Federal courts in Missouri, Virginia, Minnesota, and Illinois have allowed employee claims like these to proceed. [Verify before publish.]
What to have handy
Most of it is already in your payroll portal.
Nothing here is required to start. It just makes your claim stronger and faster.
Questions
Short answers to the ones we hear most.
Still unsure? Start the check anyway — it's free, and we'll tell you straight if it isn't a fit.
Yes. The law doesn't require you to quit. It requires your employer to offer you a real alternative and tell you about it. If that didn't happen, the surcharge can be improper regardless.
No. Your review is confidential and nothing goes to your employer unless you decide to move forward. Federal law (ERISA § 510) also prohibits retaliation for exercising your plan rights.
Not necessarily. Former employees can bring claims for surcharges paid while on the plan. Deadlines can shorten once you know about a violation, so sooner is better.
The core of the claim is the surcharge you actually paid, potentially across multiple years. Outcomes vary with your plan's terms and how the case resolves — we'll give you a straight answer once we've seen your plan.
Nothing up front, ever. Our fee is a percentage of any recovery. No recovery, no fee.
Yes. Surcharges tied to any tobacco or nicotine use — cigarettes, vapes, cigars, chew, pouches — are covered by the same rules.
Please remember:
This page is general information, not legal advice, and we are not your lawyers until you sign an attorney-client agreement with us. Every case depends on its own facts, and courts have reached different results in tobacco surcharge cases. Anything you share is confidential and used only to evaluate your claim.
Check your pay stub. Then check with us.
Two minutes. No cost. Your paycheck, your plan, your rights.
Check Your EligibilityFree, confidential case review. No fees unless we recover for you.