If Youre Not Vegetarian Dont Apply For This Life Insurance
Friday, February 5th, 2010 | Always Online
Summary
An innovative new insurance policy has been launched by Animal Friends Insurance. The new insurance plan offers cheaper premiums to vegetarians, based on evidence that they are at a lesser risk than their carnivore counterparts of developing certain illnesses. It remains to be seen whether other insurance firms will follow the example set by AFI .
A not for profit insurance firm has introducd an insurance plan which offers fish-eaters and vegetarians a reduced premium cheapest life cover .
The offer, considered to be the 1st of its kind, is being introduced by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The business is offering veggies a 7% price reductionon life assurance premiums
The business said that vegetarians ought to pay a lower amount for the product, which pays out if the person were to die, because they were more unlikely to suffer from a list of critical illnesses, including cancers.
Rebecca Puttey, the managing director of AFI, said that the risk of veggies being diagnosed with certain cancers is reduced by up to 42% and the danger of them suffering from heart disease is cut by up to thirty per cent, but despite this they have, until now, had to pay broadly the same life premiums as clients who eat meat.
She says that Animal Friends Insurance believe that this is unfair and says the life insurance industry should acknowledge the fact that being a vegetarian can make have a big influence on life expectancy and lower its monthly charges accordingly.
A standard policy is also on the market for meat eaters. Both insurance policies are sold by LV=, which was previously known as Liverpool Victoria.
In common with standard life policies, a range of factors contribute to the cost of the policies including whether the applicant smokes, their weight, age and sex.
At the moment, Animal Friends Insurance is making the 6% price reduction itself from the payment it gets from LV=. In the future, however, the company’s objective was to offer lower costs on specialist insurance plans. In making the discount the firm is hoping to sign up enough vegetarians to make it viable for LV= to underwrite another insurance policy that takes the veggie diet into account.
Indeed there are significant savings to be had, a forty-year-oldnon-smoker wanting £300,000 worth of life insurance cover might potentially save £393.60 over a twenty five year term.
Where life insurance is concerned, AFI considers that life insurance companies should begin to treat those that like meat and people that don’t eat meat in a way that is similar to the way they assess those that don’t smoke and those that do. Perhaps other companies in the insurance industry will take the same initiative.
Some peoplein the insurance industry are doubtful whether there is verifyable proof that vegetarians live longer, and how any insurer would know that applicants who had certified that they are vegetarian did not munch on an occasional bacon sandwich.
When it comes to smoking, the insurance company can refer to your GP’s patient records - if you now don’t smoke it’s possible that your Doctor is likely to be aware. However, this is not the case when it comes to eating meat, an insurance executive observed.
But many veggies argue that they are not concerned about people falling off the veggie way of eating and suggested that once a veggie has become a veggie, they do not return to meat-eating, unlike people who smoke who tend to drift in and out of their habit.