Term life insurance for Australians with smoker & non-smoker status
Quitting smoking can bring significant premium savings on your life insurance and trauma insurance policies.
A non-smoker is typically defined as a person who has not smoked tobacco or any other substance or uses a product containing nicotine, for at least 12 months.
However please note that an applicant who smokes fewer than three cigars per year may also be classified as a non-smoker. However, if the life insured smokes socially or smokes one cigarette per week, smoker rates will apply.
Former smokers may be eligible for a life insurance premium reduction if:
- You haven't smoked tobacco or any other substance in the past 12 months.
- You have no intention of resuming smoking of tobacco or any other substance in the future.
- You haven't been advised that you have a medical condition associated with your history of smoking
- You have not been advised to quit smoking on specific medical grounds.
Not only could you be doing something that's good for your health, you could also save yourself a considerable amount of money on your life insurance premiums.
Recent research confirms the need to quit smoking
May marked the World Health Organisation's (WHO) World No Tobacco Day. Events such as this and legislation changes from the government are all welcomed initiatives, however, we have some way to go in convincing the public on the harmful effects of tobacco and educating smokers on the need for term life insurance and trauma insurance.
Of the one billion plus smokers in the world, 20 per cent are women, according to the WHO, and that number is on the rise (1). The picture is also not good in Australia, with smoking being the nation's leading preventable cause of death and disease.
The fact is tobacco use reduces your life expectancy and quality of life. Smokers face significantly increased risk of death or illness from:
- numerous cancers,
- heart disease,
- stroke,
- atherosclerosis,
- abdominal aortic aneurysm,
- emphysema, and
- other respiratory diseases.
There are some 4,000 known chemicals in tobacco smoke and more than 50 of them are known to cause cancer in humans. What's more, exposure to second hand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and non smoking adults and sadly, there is no risk-free level of exposure to second hand smoke (2).
Recent steps announced by the Australian Government to discourage smoking has seen an increase of $2 a packet effective 30 April 2010. Other initiatives of the National Preventative Taskforce include cracking down on tobacco advertising in a world first, cigarettes will have to be sold in plain packaging, restricting Australian internet advertising of tobacco products and injecting an extra $27.8 million into hard-hard hitting anti-smoking campaigns (3).
Statistics on why smokers pay more
Smoking represents a major disease burden in Australia. Although fantastic progress has been made to reduce smoking there is still a way to go, with the quit rate having stalled, especially in males. The medical facts are alarming:
- approximately 40 per cent of cigarette smokers will die prematurely due to cigarette smoking unless they are able to quit.
- smoking puts you at a 10-fold risk of developing cancer of the lung, throat, or mouth.
- smoking puts you at a three-fold risk of having a stroke or heart attack.
- Cigarette smoking is responsible for 90 per cent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
If you have only just taken up smoking, damage caused to the lung by smoking for a year can be reserved on stopping smoking but after that, damage becomes irreversible leaving you with reduced lung function.
Why smokers need life cover
For individuals who choose to smoke, the need for adequate term life insurance and trauma insurance cannot be overstated.
Most life insurance companies offer some form of trauma insurance, many of which provide a benefit in the event of smoking related illness.
Income protection insurance policies can also assist where you are unable to work at full capacity or not at all for a period of time whilst recovering from treatment, providing an important source of continuing income.
Resources:
1. www.who.int/tobacco
2. www.quitnow.info.com.au - Smoking and Your Body
3. www.pm.gov.au - media release Anti-Smoking Action 29 April 2010
Source: CommInsure July 2010
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August 2010
