Conejo Valley Blog

Summary
An innovative new insurance product has been developed by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The insurance plan offers cheap premiums to vegetarians, based on evidence that they are at a lower risk than their carnivore counterparts of developing certain health conditions. It remains to be seen whether other insurance firms will follow AFI’s lead .

A no-profit insurance business has introducd an insurance policy which offers fish-eaters and vegetarians a reduced cost life insurance.

The deal, believed to be the first of its type, is being pioneered by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The organisation is offering veggies a 6% price reductionon cheap life cover premiums
The business said that vegetarians ought to pay a lower amount for the insurance, which pays out if the policyholder were to die, because they were more unlikely to suffer from a list of critical illnesses, including some cancers.

Elaine Fair, AFI’s managing director, said that the risk of veggies being diagnosed with certain cancers is reduced by up to 42% and the possibility of them suffering from heart disease is cut by up to 32%, but despite this they have, until now, had to pay broadly the same life premiums as clients who eat meat.
She says that AFI believe this is not fair and says the life industry should recognise the concept that being a veggie can impose a positive impact on life expectancy and lower its monthly charges accordingly.

A full-price arrangement is also on the market for non-vegetarians. Both insurance plans are brought to the market by LV=, which prior, was known as Liverpool Victoria.

In common with normal life policies, a range of factors contribute to the cost of the monthly premium including whether the applicant smokes, their age, weight and sex.

Just at the moment, AFI is making the 7% cheaper premium itself from the fee it earns from from LV=. In the future, however, the company’s aim was to offer lower costs on specialist plans. In making the discount the business is hoping to sign up enough veggies to make it worthwhile for LV= to underwrite another plan that takes the vegetarian’s diet into account.

Indeed there are huge savings to be made, a 42-year-oldnon-smoker wanting £300,000 worth of cover might potentially save £393.60 over a twenty five year term.

Where cheap life cover is concerned, AFI believes that insurance companies should try to treat those that eat meat and non-meat eaters in approaches matching the way they assess those that don’t smoke and those that do. We hope that that other companies in the insurance industry will follow the initiative.

It is thought that some senior managersin the insurance industry doubt whether there is robust proof that veggies live longer, and how any life insuranec company would know that applicants who had stated that they are veggies did not savour the occasional rump steak.

When it comes to smoking, the insurance company can refer to your GP’s patient records - if you now don’t smoke it’s certainly likely that your GP is likely to know. However, this is not the case when it comes to eating meat, an insurance executive observed.

But some veggies contend that they are not worried about people falling off the veggie ways and suggested that once a vegetarian has become a vegetarian, they do not regress to meat-eating, that is unlike applicants who smoke who tend to drift in and out of their habit.