By: Sheila Challiner
Submitted: 2009-03-01 03:02:24 | Word Count: 539
An animal friendly insurance agency which has hitherto specialised in pet insurance products has extended its range to offer cheaper life insurance policies to vegetarians. Married couple Chris and Elaine Fairfax of Worthing, West Sussex, founded Animal Friends Insurance (AFI) to provide protection for our furry friends, but they now also offer non meat eaters a Vegetarian Term Life policy. The question is, does it come with a side salad?
AFI considers that the insurance industry as a whole should recognise that vegetarians are healthier and live longer than meat eaters, and they should factor that into their quotations. The claim for better health and longevity of vegetarians is backed up by research.
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Mr Fairfax states, “Independent studies show that, on a 12 year follow up study of 11,000 people, vegetarians have a lower rate of mortality in some significant areas than non vegetarians.”
It is said that they are less likely to suffer with kidney stones or gall stones, or other chronic illnesses. They are also less likely to have high blood pressure or to develop diet related diabetes.
Needless to say Mad Cow disease isn’t going to affect vegetarians, so dying for a hamburger won’t be on their agenda.
The Vegetarian Society claims that their followers (some four million in the UK) reduce the risk of heart disease by 30 per cent and that the risk of some cancers is down by 40 per cent.
The Vegetarian Term Life policy is underwritten by the Liverpool Victoria Life Company and offers a first year reduction on monthly premiums of 25 per cent. Mr and Mrs Fairfax are so keen on promoting the policy that they are funding the discount by forgoing their commission. They have also decided that profits from their other insurance business will be donated to animal causes.
Mr Fairfax’s point of view is that since one’s medical history, drinking habits and smoking are taken into account by insurance companies when quoting for a life policy, why don’t they consider one’s eating habits as well.
“We believe that a vegetarian lifestyle should be given equal weight,” he says. “There is plenty of clear factual evidence to demonstrate the health benefits of being a vegetarian which should be recognised across the insurance industry. In simple terms, vegetarians live longer and are healthier throughout their lifetimes,” he concluded.
Until the entire insurance industry can be converted to the cause, which may be slower than the Mr and Mrs Fairfax would like, AFI are delighted to work with Liverpool Victoria and offer discounts to vegetarians. However, it is not known if a vegetarian who succumbed to temptation in the form of a bacon butty the morning after an occasional heavy night’s session would still be eligible for the discount!
AFI quoted comparative figures for 100,000 pounds of life cover for a 45 year old non smoking woman, as follows. With their vegetarian policy she would pay 10.95 pounds over 15 years, but with an ordinary policy her average cost would be 16.39 pounds and a top rate policy would cost her 18.40 pounds.
The final words from the Vegetarian Society are, “We hope insurance companies will take seriously the fact that vegetarians are less likely to die young from cancer and heart disease.”
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