Smokers pay tens of thousands of euro more for life insurance and mortgage protection than non-smokers, according to new research from price comparison and switching website bonkers.ie.
For mortgage protection – a legal requirement for anyone taking out a mortgage in Ireland – a 38-year-old couple can pay as little as €35.60 a month for €300,000 in cover over 30 years as long as they’re both non-smokers.
However, if they both smoke, the cost jumps to €70.09 – an increase of almost 97 per cent, or nearly €12,500 over the life of the policy.
Adding €100,000 in specified illness cover to the same policy would cost €101.09 a month for non-smokers. But smokers would pay at least €191.82, a difference of almost €33,000 over the term.
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The gap is even wider for life cover which pays out a tax-free lump sum if one of the insured dies during the term of the policy and is considered an essential part of financial planning for families.
A non-smoking couple could secure €300,000 in cover over 30 years for about €51 a month, while smokers would pay at least €103.88 – a difference of almost 103 per cent, or almost €19,000 over the lifetime of the policy.
And for a stand-alone specified illness policy worth €150,000 over 30 years, non-smokers would pay €195.87 a month, while smokers would be charged €333.44 – almost €50,000 extra for the same level of cover.
The research was carried out in May by comparing prices for smokers and non-smokers from the country’s five leading life insurers: Aviva, Irish Life, New Ireland, Royal London Ireland, and Zurich Life.
While smoking has declined in recent decades, about 16 per cent of adults aged 15 and over in Ireland still smoke either daily or occasionally, according to Census 2022. However, many more vape – and vapers, even if they’ve never smoked in their life, will still be treated as smokers by life insurers.
“Quitting smoking really is good for your pocket as well as your health,” said Daragh Cassidy of bonkers.ie. “It’s not just the cost of cigarettes that you’ll save on. As our research shows, the price you pay as a smoker for important life insurance products is often close to double what a non-smoker would pay. This means kicking the habit can literally save you tens of thousands of euro.”
He added that people who vape are also considered smokers by insurance companies.
“The good news is that if you’re already paying for life cover, but decide to quit, once you’ve been off cigarettes, as well as any nicotine replacement products, for at least 12 months, you can apply to be reassessed as a non-smoker and potentially pay a lower price for your existing cover.”
