For the record, I’m what serious smokers derisively call a ‘casual smoker’, i.e. someone who only smokes when out in a beer garden or at a party. I managed to successfully give up a 20 a day habit a two years ago, but I still have the occasional lapse, and cave in when I go out with my friends, but now I’m even thinking of throwing in the tobacco towel completely.

Why? Because of the money. Despite the government slapping 77% of VAT on tobacco, cigarettes have continued to become more affordable year on year since 2000, when the price rises on a packet of smokes were changed so that they were in line with inflation. After the budget this year, the cost of a packet of fags went up by some 11p and 9p two years before that. But with inflation already rising, the 2009 budget already doesn’t look good for smokers.

Quitting the ciggies is not only good for your wallet in terms of the money you don’t spend on packets pouches and papers, but it also helps you reduce the cost of your insurance premiums by a considerable amount as well. A 35 year old non-smoking male in good health can currently expect to pay on average £8.85 per month for £100,000 of cover over 20 years.

This then rises by a massive staggering 78% to £15.75 a month if he is considered to be a smoker. This equates to some £1,656 extra over the term of the policy. For women, the average cost of life insurance cover would rise from £7.25 per month £12.45 per month, a leap of about 72%. It is worth bearing in mind that the majority of insurers will class a smoker as anyone who has used any form of tobacco products in the last 12 months.

Smokers also lose out on car insurance; not only will they have to pay out extra than non-smokers by default, their premiums are now set to skyrocket by some £200 if they are caught and convicted of smoking whilst behind the wheel.

Cigarettes are also still considered to be the number one cause of house fires; when applying for home and contents insurance these days, you probably will be asked if you are a smoker or not. As part of the application process, you may even be required to take a saliva test to confirm that you are a non-smoker.

If you have lied, your application may be declined and your name could be blacklisted – if you are a smoker or are in the process of trying to quit, don’t lie. It’s not worth it if you get caught out, because as well as being blacklisted, you may be refused any financial help in the event of a house fire if it transpires that you lied on your application.

If you are trying to quit, mention this during the application process; you may be able to arrange to take another saliva test in 6 or 12 months time to prove that you have given up, and your premiums could fall accordingly.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Car Insurance, Home Insurance, Insurance, Life Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.