Summary
An interesting new insurance plan has been introduced by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The new policy offers cheap 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 insurers will follow the new policy marketed by Animal Friends Insurance .
A not for profit insurance firm has introducd an insurance scheme which offers egg eaters and vegetarians a reduced cost mortgage insurance .
The deal, thought to be the first of its type, is being brought to the market by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The firm is offering veggies a six per cent cheaper premiumon cheap life cover premiums
The firm claimed that veggies ought to pay less for the cover, which pays out if the plan holder were to die, because they were less likely to suffer from a list of critical illnesses, including some cancers.
Elaine Fair, AFI’s managing director, claims that the risk of vegetarians being diagnosed with certain cancers is lowered by up to forty two per cent and the risk of them suffering from heart disease is reduced by up to 30 per cent, but despite this they have, until now, had to pay identical life insurance premiums as customers who eat meat.
She says that AFI think that this is unfair and says the life industry should acknowledge the idea that being a veggie can create have a significant effect on life expectancy and reduce its charges accordingly.
A standard priced policy is also on the market for meat eaters. Both plans are marketed by LV=, which was known as Liverpool Victoria.
In common with normal life cover, a range of things contribute to the cost of the plans including whether the applicant smokes, their sex, weight and age.
Currently at the moment, AFI is carrying the seven per cent discount itself from the money it gets from LV=. In the future, however, the business’s aim was to offer lower premiums on specialist plans. In the business is hoping to sign up enough vegetarians to make it viable for LV= to underwrite yet another insurance policy that takes the veggie diet into account.
Indeed there are significant savings to be made, a thirty eight year oldnon-smoker purchasing £300,000 worth of life cover might potentially save £393.60 over a 25-year term.
Where critical illness insurance is concerned, AFI believes that insurance companies should try to treat people that eat meat and non-meat eaters in a way that is similar to the way they view non-smokers and smokers. Hopefully others in the insurance industry will take the same initiative.
Some peoplein the insurance industry are dismissive that there is any proof that vegetarians live longer, and how any insurer could prove that applicants who had stated that they are veggies did not savour the occasional rump steak.
It’s true that when it comes to smoking there are GP records – if you now don’t smoke it’s possible that your Doctor will be aware. But this won’t apply when it comes to eating meat, an an insurance industry spokesperson observed.
But some veggies contend that they are not concerned about people falling off the veggie ways and suggested that once a vegetarian has become a veggie, they don’t return to meat-eating, that is unlike applicants who smoke who tend to drift in and out of their habit.
