As vaping is a relatively recent development, there is some confusion around how it can affect a life insurance policy. In this article, we aim to cover everything you need to know about vaping and life insurance.
We have another article explaining the impact of smoking on life insurance and there are similarities in how insurance companies write policies for smokers and vapers. Here, we focus specifically on vaping.
In this article
Yes. Insurers each have their own framework for eligibility, so while some may not offer insurance policies to people who vape, others do.
At Post Office, we don’t disqualify people who are looking for a life insurance policy just because they vape. We look at a number of health and lifestyle factors to calculate whether we can offer people a quote.
We’re transparent about the fact that vaping will almost always increase your monthly premiums, but vaping won't prevent you from putting a policy in place to protect your loved ones should you pass away.
Life insurance premiums will usually be higher for vapers than for those that don’t vape or smoke.
The full impact of vaping on health is still debated. Compared to smoking, e-cigarettes and vapes are a relatively new concept. As such, we don’t yet have extensive data on its health impact. Some scientists argue that it’s healthier than smoking, but others aren’t so sure.
While we don’t understand it fully, vaping is still considered to be detrimental to health. Therefore, life insurance premiums are higher for vapers, as insurers need to cover themselves against this increase in risk.
When it comes to calculating your premiums, insurers will look at your age, medical history, lifestyle choices and how much cover you’re looking to get, so it's not all about vaping or smoking.
Below is an illustration of how life insurance premiums compare between vapers and non-vapers (which includes non-smokers). This data is for customers at 30 and 50 years old taking out £100,000 worth of cover over a 25-year term. Both are non-drinkers and all variables other than vaping status are the same.
If you want to know exactly how much a life insurance policy would cost, it’s easy to get a quote online. You can fill in this form in a matter of minutes to view a policy tailored to you.
We can’t speak for all insurers, but vaping is commonly grouped together with smoking when calculating life insurance premiums.
At Post Office, we only ask one question relating to smoking or vaping when you take out a policy:
In the last 12 months have you:
The two answers you can select are ‘yes to any’ or ‘no to all’. Because the health impact of vaping is debated, insurers often charge the same premiums to both smokers and vapers. That may change in the future, but at the time of writing, this is commonplace.
Certain insurers may adjust premiums based on how much you vape. However, others adopt the same policy as Post Office: if you’ve vaped or smoked at any point in the past year, your policy considers you to be a vaper or smoker. Whether you vape every day or only on special occasions, your premiums will be the same.
If you only have the odd vape now and then, it may be tempting to omit that information when you take out a policy. This is not a good idea. If a claim is ever made against your policy, the insurer will need to access your medical records. If any evidence of vaping is found and you have said you haven’t used a vape in the last 12 months, your policy will be cancelled and no payout will be made.
This will mean that you’ve been paying premiums for nothing. Most importantly, your loved ones won’t benefit from the security that you wanted to leave behind.
In 2024, 96.5% of new fixed term life insurance claims in the UK were paid2. This demonstrates that insurers don’t look for ways to avoid valid claims. But ‘non-disclosure of material information’, like vaping, is one of the main reasons claims are turned down. If you’re not truthful about your vaping status, your policy could be among the few that aren’t paid. It’s simply not worth the risk.
Scottish Friendly, the underwriter for Post Office Life Insurance, paid 99.1% of claims in 2024. As long as you’re honest and transparent when taking out a policy, you can feel confident your family will be supported, whether you vape or not.
Some insurers may view nicotine-free vapes differently from other vapes. At Post Office, however, we don’t distinguish between vapes.
As there isn’t a universally used nicotine replacement in these products, we can't verify what’s in each vape, or make the assumption that they’re better for your health.
Therefore, even if you use a nicotine-free vape, it will impact your premiums in the same way that nicotine vaping and smoking would.
Post Office doesn't disqualify people from life insurance policies if they vape. We offer different types of policies and you can choose an amount of cover which suits your needs. Here are some of our key features.
3 Service separate from the policy contract. It may be withdrawn at any time.
1 Post Office Life Insurance is provided by Scottish Friendly. Scottish Friendly paid 99.1% of life insurance claims they received in 2024.
2 96.5% of claims paid out for term life insurance in 2024: Association of British Insurers.
That will depend on each insurer. At Post Office, we treat vaping in the same way as smoking as the risks to health are not yet conclusive. Unless we can feel more confident that vaping carries significantly lower health risks than smoking, it's unlikely that premiums for vapers will be lower than they are for smokers.
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