Summer is here! It’s time to put a shine on our bodies and look trim and healthy when we walk around on the beach. This could be a good time to give up smoking for good.
Apart from the positive health benefits, saying no to cigarettes also has a fantastic financial incentive. Of course, smoking is expensive. The savings you make by quitting can mount up very quickly. But did you know that non-smokers spend far less on their life insurance?

The price you pay for your life insurance premiums is linked to the risk of a claim being made. If your insurer decides the risk is low, you'll enjoy cheaper cover. But if you're a smoker, the risk of making a claim is greater. To balance that out, the insurer will charge you higher premiums for the same policy. And the difference between the two sets of rates can be staggering!

Here’s an example of the difference in the insurance rates from one insurance company: Men who smoke would pay £12.75 a month for £100,000 cover. Men who don't smoke would pay just £7.55. Over a 20-year term, non-smokers would actually spend £1,248 less on their life insurance policy than smokers. It's a similar story for women. Female smokers would pay £9.35 a month while non-smokers would spend just £6.20.

Most insurers will class you as a non-smoker once you haven't smoked any cigarettes (or used nicotine replacement products) for just one year. This means, if you quit when the smoking ban came in, there's just a few short weeks left until you'll qualify for non-smoker rates.

We've already looked at how much cheaper life cover is for non-smokers, so it makes sense to apply for a replacement policy based on non-smoker rates. If you can get cheaper premiums, why not set-up a new, lower cost policy, and cancel your outdated one? You can do this quickly and easily by comparing quotes on the internet.

But there's an important factor you should think about before you change your cover: If your health has deteriorate, or you are significantly older since you took out the original policy, the cost of a new plan could be a whole lot more expensive. If this happens, it's better to stick with your old policy, even if that means being stuck on smoker rates.

You should benefit from lower cost life insurance as a non-smoker. And the money you save on your new policy can be put to far better use enjoying yourself this summer!