Pulse specialises in providing Life Insurance and other insurance protection products for individuals who cannot get the cover they require from the standard market. Frequently the problems are health related.  When it comes to providing Life Insurance an immediate red light for underwriters is if the applicant is a smoker. This will surely increase the premium and in some cases the chance of being postponed or declined.

It must be acknowledged that smoking is difficult to quit. Nicotine is powerfully addictive. So, Pulse applauds all the great efforts that are made by public health organisations to encourage and support people in their efforts to stop smoking. The Stoptober 2022 campaign provides all sorts of useful tips and information on how to quit.

It also highlights the problem of passive smoking. Awareness of this problem is gaining ground. And rightly so. In my own family I had an aunt who died of lung cancer even though she never smoked in all her life. But her husband was quite a heavy smoker which in his case this was very understandable. He was a terrific man and recognised in the family for his courage. He was too young to fight in the first World War and too old to fight in the Second but fought in both! He suffered wounds in WW2 and typically of that generation he rarely spoke about what he had been through, and no doubt smoking provided some calm and comfort. After demobilisation he went on to build a successful business. It shouldn’t be forgotten that cigarettes were liberally distributed in WW2 to the armed forces.

But knowledge of smoking and the problems it causes have radically changed since WW2 and it is now extraordinary to look at some of the advertising that was used to promote smoking some adverts described one brand of cigarette as something that was “kind to your throat” meanwhile other cigarette brands were promoted by doctors!

It is good to see that the Stoptober campaign highlights the risks about passive Smoking. Among other things it states that “Passive smoking is especially harmful for children as they have less well- developed airways, lungs, and immune systems. Children are particularly vulnerable in the family car where second-hand smoke can reach hazardous levels even with the windows open“.   Against this background it was baffling to hear the newly appointed Health Minister, Therese Coffey, being equivocal when asked by Nick Ferrari the interviewer on LBC, as to what her attitude to was to the banning of smoking by adults in cars when they are carrying children. Surely all she needed to do was to endorse, in no uncertain terms, the ban that was introduced by law in 2015.

In any event everything that can be done to help adults quit smoking must be applauded. It will improve their own health quickly and this is recognised by underwriters who will rate applicants as non-smokers just one year after they have stopped smoking. And, of course, the risks of passive smoking will be removed from those who are close to them, physically and emotionally.

For more information or to request a quote, please contact our team:

[email protected] or call 01280 841430.

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