Quit smoking to become healthier, wealthier and wiser

Everybody knows that smoking can damage your health, and with the increasing cost of cigarettes, everyone knows it will also damage your wealth, but the financial cost when it comes to taking out life insurance may not be truly understood.

Over 2 months ago the smoking ban came into effect for all public places in Scotland, with similar plans for the rest of the UK, and along with the ban the sales of nicotine patches and gum have rocketed.

A standard life insurance policy through one of the high street insurers such as Barclays insurance reveals that smokers are liable to be paying almost twice as much as an identical non-smoker. For example, a 20 a day male smoker, aged 35 next birthday, taking out £100,000 cover for 20 years would have a premium, after tax relief, of about £7.55 a month. An identical smoker would be required to pay £13.39 per month for the same cover. Searching through most of the UK providers using a insurance comparison site like Moneynet also provides similar results. This represents a massive difference across the life of a full policy,

Due to the higher profile which currently surrounds the subject of smoking, which has occurred recently thanks to the ban, many insurance companies are looking to receive a large number of requests from reformed ex-smokers asking for re-quotes to be carried out on their existing policies. It is important to note however that to be considered as a non-smoker by most insurance companies, ex-smokers need to have refrained from any tobacco products for over 12 months, and will probably be asked to take a simple and completely painless cotinine test.

James Yerkess, the head of Tesco Life Insurance said: "The link between smoking and early death is clear and well documented in life insurer's claims statistics", however, "Many people aren't aware that they can ask their life insurer to re-quote their policy if they have stopped smoking for thirteen months or more. It's surprising that more companies don't seem to shout about it."

To take advantage of the potential increase in the numbers of ex-smoking customers, Tesco has announced a 'quit for life' promise. This is a guarantee to reduce the premium of reformed smokers to that of a non smoker after a period of thirteen months as long as the policyholder's general health hasn't deteriorated and they still pledge that they will continue to remain a non-smoker.

Research manager Amanda Sandford from the anti-smoking group, ASH stated, "We welcome any measure that encourages smokers to quit for life." She believes that the promotion of non-smoking attitudes by life insurance companies, "Clearly highlights that stopping smoking not only benefits your health but also your wallet."
Disclaimer:
All information contained in this article, is for general information purposes only and should not be construed as advice under the Financial Services Act 1986.
You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.
Useful resources:
Barclays insurance
Moneynet insurance comparisons