Summary
An innovative new insurance plan has been marketed by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The new policy offers cheap premiums to vegetarians, based on evidence that they are at a reduced risk than their carnivore counterparts of developing certain health conditions. It remains to be seen whether other insurance firms will follow the lead set by Animal Friends Insurance .
A not-for-profit insurance business has marketed an insurance policy which offers vegetarians and fish-eaters a reduced price mortgage insurance .
The deal, thought to be the 1st of its kind, is being pioneered by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The business is offering veggies a 6 per cent lower priceon mortgage cover premiums
The business claimed that veggies ought to pay a lesser sum for the cover, which pays out if the plan holder were to die, because they were less likely to suffer from a selection of serious conditions, including cancers.
Rebecca Puttey, a director at AFI, claims that the risk of vegetarians being diagnosed with certain cancers is reduced by up to 40% and the danger of them suffering from heart disease is lowered by up to thirty per cent, but despite this they have, until now, had to pay the same life premiums as plan holders who eat meat.
She says that AFI believe that this is patently unfair and says the insurance companies should acknowledge the concept that being a vegetarian can create have a significant effect on life expectancy and reduce its charges accordingly.
A normal plan is also on the market for non-vegetarians. Both insurance plans are marketed by LV=, which prior, was known as Liverpool Victoria.
In common with standard life policies, a range of factors contribute to the cost of the policies including whether the applicant smokes, their sex, weight and age.
Just at the moment, AFI is making the 6% reduction in price itself from the cash it earns from from LV=. In the future, however, the firm’s aim was to offer lower premiums on specialist cover. In ,offering the discount the firm is hoping to sign up enough veggies to make it viable for LV= to underwrite another insurance plan that takes the vegetarian’s diet into account.
Indeed there are huge savings to be had, a forty two year oldnon-smoker purchasing £300,000 worth of life insurance cover might potentially save £393.60 over a twenty year term.
Where serious illness insurance is concerned, AFI thinks that life insurance companies should try to treat those that like meat and people that don’t eat meat in ways that are similar to the way they view those that don’t smoke and those that do. Perhaps others in the insurance industry will follow the initiative.
Some senior executivesin the insurance industry are doubtful whether there is proof that veggies live longer, and how any insurance company would know that people who had applied stating that they are veggies did not enjoy the occasional Big Mac.
It’s true that when it comes to smoking there are GP records - if you do smoke it’s likely that your Doctor will be aware. But this does not apply when it comes to eating meat, an executive from the insurance industry commented.
But some veggies contend that they are not worried about people falling off the vegetarian wagon and suggested that once a veggie has become a vegetarian, they do not go back to meat-eating, that is unlike those that smoke who tend to drift out and back again into their habit.
