Mortgage Advice: Does Smoking Affect Life Insurance?
Posted on 12th June 2023 at 15:00
When applying for protection insurance, the client’s smoker status is taken into account when providing premiums.
The varying risks associated with each status account for the differences in outcomes. Smoking poses a significantly heightened risk compared to non-smoking due to the chances of it increasing the likelihood of numerous health conditions.
According to the information provided on the NHS website, smoking exposes individuals to an elevated risk of more than 50 severe health conditions.
Mortgage Advice Doncaster: Are Smokers Eligible for Life Insurance?
It is possible for smokers to get life insurance, however, they will pay a higher monthly premium compared with a non-smoker or someone who has never smoked.
Many insurance providers often use three categories:
- Smoker: A smoker is someone who last smoked cigarettes or cigars, used a pipe or any other form of tobacco or nicotine products, including e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement products, in the last 12 months.
- Ex-Smoker: An ex-smoker is someone who last smoked cigarettes or cigars, used a pipe or any other form of tobacco or nicotine products, including e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement products over 12 months ago but less than 3- 5 years ago (some providers may require this to be a longer period be longer than this)
- Non-Smoker: A non-smoker is someone who last smoked cigarettes or cigars, used a pipe or any other form of tobacco or nicotine products, including e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement products more than 5 years ago (some providers may require a longer period than 5 years) or someone who has never smoked.
Is Vaping Classed As Smoking?
If someone smokes e-cigarettes that contain nicotine, they will be treated on the same basis as someone smoking other nicotine-based products.
Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but e-cigarettes can contain other harmful substances which are not yet fully understood in terms of how they affect the body long-term, so it still presents a risk.
Many young people are starting to vape and people who wouldn’t usually smoke cigarettes or cigars are taking up vaping and unfortunately, it’s not been around for long enough for anyone to know the long-term risks.
It is crucial to be honest on any application form for protection insurance as a non-disclosure could lead to a payout being denied at the point of claim.
Mortgage Advice Doncaster: Dragonfly Financial Services
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