Ex-smokers could be wasting thousands by not updating their life insurance
Ex-smokers wasting money on life insurance
Tuesday, 17 Jan 2006 11:50
Reformed smokers are losing millions of pounds a year by failing to review their life insurance policies.
One year on from quitting, former-smokers can be classed as 'non-smokers' by many life insurance providers, potentially saving them thousands of pounds over the term of their policies.
This means the people who managed to stop on New Year's Eve 2004, can now review their cover, and save money.
"Since December 2004, as many as two million people have given up smoking," said David Pickett, Sainsbury’s Bank life insurance manager.
"The health benefits of giving up are well known, and with a packet of cigarettes now costing over £5, the financial savings can also be substantial. However, once you’ve successfully quit, you could also make a saving in your annual life insurance premiums if you review your requirements."
Sainsbury's Bank is one of the insurance providers that does not consider someone an ex-smoker until they have stayed clear of cigarettes for 12 months, and offers savings of up to £250 a year - or 47 per cent off - for people who have quit for more than a year.
But despite the savings available, most people do not think to update their life insurance policies.
In the last five years, 6.78 million people have stopped smoking - but just 26 per cent have informed their life insurance company, research from Sainsbury's suggests.
This means ex-smokers could be wasting £127 million a year on overly expensive life insurance policies, and with 6.1 million Britons planning to kick the habit in 2006, the amount of money going up in stale smoke is set to rise even higher.