Summary
An innovative new insurance policy has been introduced by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The life insurance policy offers cheap premiums to vegetarians, based on evidence that they are at a reduced risk than their carnivore counterparts of developing certain illnesses. It remains to be seen whether other insurance firms will follow the lead set by Animal Friends Insurance .
A no-profit insurance business has launched an insurance plan which offers fish-eaters and vegetarians a reduced price life insurance.
The offer, considered to be the first of its type, is being brought to the market by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The business is offering non-meat eaters a 6% price reductionon life assurance premiums
The firm said that veggies ought to pay a lesser cost for the insurance, which pays out if the client dies, because they were less likely to suffer from a range of chronic diseases, including some cancers.
Amanda Jude, a director at AFI, said that the danger of veggies being diagnosed with certain cancers is reduced by up to forty per cent and the risk of them suffering from heart disease is reduced by up to 32 per cent, but despite this they have, until now, had to pay identical life insurance premiums as policyholders who eat meat.
She says that AFI believe that this is not fair and says the life industry should recognise the idea that being a veggie can impose have a significant effect on life expectancy and lower its charges accordingly.
A standard arrangement is also on the market for meat eaters. Both plans are sold by LV=, which was known as Liverpool Victoria.
In common with normal life insurance policies, a range of factors contribute to the cost of the monthly premium including whether the applicant smokes, their age, sex and weight.
At the moment, Animal Friends Insurance is making the seven per cent reduction in price itself from the money it receives from LV=. In the future, however, the company’s aim was to offer lower premiums on specialist insurance plans. In offering the deal the business is hoping to sign up enough veggies to make it economically viable for LV= to underwrite yet another insurance plan that takes the vegetarian’s diet into account.
Indeed there are significant savings to be had, a 40-year-oldnon-smoker wanting £300,000 worth of life cover might potentially save £393.60 over a twenty five year period.
Where life insurance deals is concerned, AFI believes that insurance companies should begin to treat those that eat meat and non-meat eaters in approaches matching the way they assess non-smokers and smokers. Perhaps others in the insurance industry will do something similar.
Some senior executivesin the insurance industry are doubtful whether there is any proof that vegetarians live longer, and how any life insurer could prove that people who had certified that they are vegetarian did not savour the occasional rump steak.
When it comes to smoking, the insurance company can refer to your Doctor’s records – if you now don’t smoke it’s certainly likely that your Doctor will know. But this isn’t the case when it comes to eating meat, an executive from the insurance industry commented.
But some veggies contend that they are not concerned about people falling off the veggie wagon and suggested that once a veggie has become a vegetarian, they do not regress to meat-eating, that’s unlike those that smoke who tend to drift in and out of their habit.