Joe Charles of Royal London explained, “Giving up cigarettes is a big consideration for many people as a

new year rolls around, with some people finding it the perfect time to kick the habit of a lifetime. While

unfortunately, not everyone is successful, there will still be a significant amount of people who were able to

free themselves from the grasp of nicotine. Those who have been off cigarettes for a full year are now in line

to classify themselves as non-smokers for Life cover purposes – which could mean, all things being equal, the

potential for saving money”.

Joe went on to say, “We believe that now is a good time to flag this issue with people. Many people are simply

not aware that if you gave up smoking over 12 months ago or more and are now considering putting Life

cover in place, that non-smokers pay a lot less than smokers for Life cover.

Our cost analysis reveals that over the duration of the policy, smokers can pay many thousands more than

non-smokers for the same Life policy. So aside from the obvious health benefits of not smoking there are quite

clear financial gains.”

Royal London say that for people to be classed as a non-smoker they must not have used any tobacco products, including nicotine replacement products such as patches or chewing gum, in the last 12 months. In rare cases a person may be asked to complete a cotinine test (smoker test). A cotinine test is a simple test to screen for tobacco use by testing a sample of saliva or urine.

We’re all looking to make savings and your Life cover should be no different. As well as savings for non-smokers, there are additional offers available on the market too. Southeast Financial services will source a policy that match the best price in the market and also offer further discounts on the price for Life and Mortgage Protection cover.