Summary
An interesting new insurance plan has been marketed by Animal Friends Insurance. The insurance plan offers lower premiums to vegetarians, based on evidence that they are at a lower risk than their carnivorous counterparts of developing certain medical conditions. It remains to be seen whether other insurance firms will follow the example set by AFI .

A none profit insurance firm has introducd an insurance scheme which offers fish-eaters and vegetarians a reduced price critical illness .

The offer, believed to be the 1st of its type, is being pioneered by Animal Friends Insurance (AFI). The company is offering vegetarians a 6 per cent cheaper premiumon cheap life cover premiums
The firm claimed that vegetarians ought to pay a lower amount for the insurance, which pays out if the plan holder were to die, because they were less likely to suffer from a range of chronic diseases, including some cancers.

Elaine Fair, AFI’s managing director, said that the risk of veggies being diagnosed with certain cancers is shrunk by up to forty two per cent and the possibility of them suffering from heart disease is lowered by up to 30%, but despite this they have, until now, had to pay broadly identical insurance costs as policyholders who eat meat.
She says that AFI believe that this is not fair and says the life organisations should acknowledge the concept that being a veggie can make a very positive impact on life expectancy and reduce its premiums accordingly.

A standard priced plan is also on the market for meat eaters. Both insurance policies are marketed by LV=, which used to be known as Liverpool Victoria.

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

Currently at the moment, Animal Friends Insurance is funding the seven per cent lower price itself from the money it receives from LV=. In the future, however, the business’s objective was to offer lower premiums on specialist policies. In the organisation is hoping to sign up enough veggies to make it worthwhile for LV= to underwrite another policy that takes the vegetarian’s diet into account.

Indeed there are huge savings to be made, a thirty eight year oldnon-smoker purchasing £300,000 worth of life insurance cover might potentially save £393.60 over a 25-year term.

Where critical illness is concerned, AFI thinks that insurers should try to treat meat eaters and those that do not eat meat in approaches matching the way they approach those that smoke and those that don’t. Hopefully others in the insurance industry will do something similar.

It is thought that some executivesin the insurance industry doubt whether there is verifyable proof that vegetarians live longer, and how any insurance company would know that people who had stated that they were vegetarian did not savour the occasional rump steak.

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 said a spokesperson from the insurance industry.

But many veggies argue that they are not concerned about people falling off the veggie way of eating and suggested that once a veggie has become a vegetarian, they don’t return to meat-eating, that’s unlike smokers who tend to drift out and back again into their habit.

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