Still smoking? Kicking the habit could reduce your life insurance premium

There are currently around 10 million smokers in the UK, and, according to Cancer Research UK, half of those will die from a smoking related disease. But, the good news is that this number is falling each year as people finally come to terms with the health dangers associated with smoking.

It is no secret now that smoking directly causes lung and throat cancer, but it is also the single biggest preventable cause of cancer, killing thousands of people prematurely every year.

Although quitting is undoubtedly hard to do, according to Cancer Research UK, 43 per cent of smokers in England tried to quit in 2007 - many of them trying several times. Eight per cent of those who attempted to kick the habit said they tried to quit as a direct result of the smoking ban, which came into force on July 1st, 2007. However, research by the charity has shown that stopping smoking often takes several attempts, but the more times a person tries to stop the likelier it is they will eventually succeed.

Cancer Research also says that more legislation like the smoking ban is needed in order to reduce the attraction of smoking and hopes to see the Government put an end to cigarettes at the point of sale and in vending machines.

One of the big deal breakers, however, could be more awareness of not only the health costs, but also the financial costs involved in smoking. The average smoker spends about  3 a day on cigarettes, which means they could save more than  1,000 a year by quitting. But the bigger cost is life insurance. According to research by moneysupermarket.com, smokers who quit could bag themselves savings of more than  2,000 a year on their life insurance premiums.

Life insurance premiums for non-smokers are almost half the cost of life insurance for smokers. If a 35 year old male smoker was looking for a  100,000 25 year life insurance plan, it would cost him  17.68 a month with Scottish Provident. If he quit smoking, that same plan would cost  9.91 a month â " a saving of 44 per cent, which works out to be  2,331 less over a year. Similarly, the saving would be  2,190 with Legal and general,  2,253 with Friends Provident and  2,070 with Norwich Union.

However, in order to be classed as a â non-smokerâ and qualify for life insurance premium savings, most insurers insist smokers have kicked the habit for a full year, so the savings would not be seen straight away.

Daniel Collins writes on a number of topics on behalf of a digital marketing agency and a variety of clients. As such, this article is to be considered a professional piece with business interests in mind.

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