UK insurer Legal and General has been voted ‘Life Insurer of the Year’ for the eighth time in ten years at the prestigious British Insurance Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall on 4 July.
Accepting the award for Legal and General life insurance, Gary Burchett said, “To win this title again is a great honour, especially given our track record in this category. We continue to strive for excellence and this award is a reflection of all the hard work that our people have put in to creating better service, better systems and better products.
“The life insurance industry continues to be very competitive and we certainly cannot rest on our laurels. Our strengths lie in offering value for money life insurance products through a broad range of distributors, backed by a commitment to excellent customer service.”
For full details of the awards visit the British Insurance Awards website.
If you’ve considered quitting since the smoking ban, there’s a little extra incentive of significant savings on the cost of life insurance with typical savings of £2,000 to £3,000.
So it’s not only your health that will benefit but also your bank balance. According to price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com, life insurance premiums for non-smokers are about half the price of those for smokers. For example, life insurance of £100,000 for a 35 year old smoker over 25 years would cost £17.90 a month with Norwich Union. A non-smoking male would only pay £10 a month, saving of almost 45% or £2,370 over the term of the policy. A non-smoker with Liverpool Victoria would pay £3,150 less than a smoker for the same cover.
Head of life insurance at moneysupermarket.com, Emma Walker, commented: “The smoking ban inspired 1.2 million smokers to quit by July 1, so if you’re keen to give up, you should find plenty of support from others in the same position. The huge difference in premium levels between a smoker and a non-smoker means there are also considerable savings to be made simply by shopping around for the cheapest deal to suit your circumstances”.
In order to be classed as a non-smoker and qualify for premium savings, most insurers require you to have not used any tobacco products for a full year. Once you have given up for 12 months though, you should go back to your insurer and ask for non-smoker rates.
