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Life insurance for smokers, vapers included
Life insurance for smokers is available: Aviva says you can get cover if you smoke, though you'll pay more than a non-smoker (Aviva ↗).
Insurers count more than cigarettes, so check how they define a smoker before you answer.
Every claim here is our summary of a named external source, linked beside it. Sources change: check the wording at the link before you rely on it.
Life insurance for smokers, the key facts
The points that matter most, each linked to the guide or law it comes from.
At a glance
- Smokers can get life insurance, but pay more than non-smokers (Aviva ↗)
- Insurers ask about any nicotine or nicotine-replacement products in the last 12 months (Royal London ↗)
- Vapes, e-cigarettes and nicotine replacements count as smoking for Legal & General and Aviva (Legal & General ↗) (Aviva ↗)
- Quit, and after 12 months you could be eligible for cover as a non-smoker with Legal & General (Legal & General ↗)
- An insurer can't reject your claim if you took reasonable care to answer its questions honestly (MoneyHelper ↗)
ABI figure, all individual protection; check at the link: (ABI ↗)
Can you get life insurance as a smoker?
Yes. Aviva says the simple answer is yes, but you'll have to pay more than a non-smoker, as smoking affects life expectancy (Aviva ↗).
The harder question is whether you count as a smoker.
Pick what you use to see how the insurers we checked treat it.
Do I count as a smoker?
Yes, within the last 12 months
Legal & General applies smoker's rates to anyone who has smoked cigarettes in the last 12 months (Legal & General ↗). Royal London says insurers ask about any nicotine product in the last 12 months (Royal London ↗).
Yes, for the insurers we checked
Aviva says vaping is classed as smoking, and is treated the same as any other form of smoking (Aviva ↗). Legal & General's non-smoker definition rules out vapes and e-cigarettes in the last 12 months (Legal & General ↗).
Usually yes
Aviva says that for many insurers, including Aviva, you are classed as a smoker if you use nicotine substitutes such as patches, gum or lozenges (Aviva ↗). Legal & General counts nicotine replacements too (Legal & General ↗).
Yes
Legal & General's non-smoker definition rules out cigars and a pipe, including shisha or hookah, in the last 12 months (Legal & General ↗).
It depends how long ago
Legal & General says you could be eligible for cover as a non-smoker after 12 months (Legal & General ↗), and that ex-smoker rates may apply if you smoked in the last 5 years but not the last 12 months (Legal & General ↗).
Summaries of each insurer's own definitions. Other insurers may define a smoker differently.
How to get life insurance as a smoker
Royal London says insurers will ask if you have used any nicotine or nicotine-replacement products in the last 12 months, and if so you are classed as a smoker (Royal London ↗).
Answer that question on the insurer's own definition, not your own.
Aviva says that if a claim is investigated and a health report shows you weren't truthful, the policy could be invalidated (Aviva ↗).
Check
Read the insurer’s definition
Vapes, patches and gum can all count.
Answer
Declare every nicotine product
Within the period the question asks about.
Compare
Look at more than one insurer
Definitions and prices differ between insurers.
Review
Revisit after you quit
Once you meet a non-smoker definition, ask about a new policy.
Tips for smokers getting life insurance
Aviva says stopping won't automatically change the premiums on a policy you already hold (Aviva ↗).
The NHS offers free help to stop, including local Stop Smoking Services and the NHS Quit Smoking app (NHS ↗).
What the sources suggest
- Answer the smoking question on the insurer's definition, vapes included (Aviva ↗)
- After 12 months without nicotine, you could apply as a non-smoker with Legal & General (Legal & General ↗)
- Ask your insurer, or get quotes for a new policy, once you have quit (Royal London ↗)
- Shop around, because criteria vary between insurers (MoneyHelper ↗)
Honest smoking answers protect your claim
MoneyHelper says an insurer can't reject your claim if you took reasonable care to answer its questions honestly (MoneyHelper ↗).
Legal & General says false information about your smoker status could mean a reduced payout, or the policy being invalidated altogether (Legal & General ↗).
If your health changes between applying and being accepted, Vitality says to let the insurer know straight away (Vitality ↗).
If an answer turns out to be wrong
No remedy against a careful answer
The law asks you to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer (legislation.gov.uk ↗). The insurer's remedies apply where the consumer breached that duty (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
It depends on what the insurer would have done
If it would not have offered cover at all, it may cancel the policy and refuse all claims, but must return the premiums (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
If it would have offered different terms, such as an exclusion, the policy can be treated as if it had those terms. If it would have charged more, it may reduce a claim in proportion (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
The policy can be cancelled
The insurer may avoid the contract and refuse all claims, and need not return the premiums, except where it would be unfair to keep them (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
Our summary of the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2 and Schedule 1. Read the Act at the links; it is the authority.
Help to quit, and help to compare
MoneyHelper says it is important to shop around, because criteria and approaches can vary significantly between insurers, and that a specialist broker can research the market for you (MoneyHelper ↗).
If you think an insurer's risk assessment isn't based on a reliable or relevant source of information, MoneyHelper says you can challenge it under the Equality Act (MoneyHelper ↗).
Complain to the insurer first.
We do not recommend brokers or insurers.
Before you buy, the FCA tells consumers to check the firm on its Firm Checker (FCA ↗).
- Free support
NHS: quit smoking
Local Stop Smoking Services and the NHS Quit Smoking app (NHS ↗).
Open NHS: quit smoking ↗ - Free guidance
MoneyHelper
Its guide to buying insurance if you're ill or disabled covers disclosure, brokers and your rights (MoneyHelper ↗).
Open MoneyHelper ↗ - Brokers
Find a specialist broker
MoneyHelper points to the British Insurance Brokers' Association website to find a specialist broker (MoneyHelper ↗).
Open Find a specialist broker ↗ - Complaints
Financial Ombudsman Service
After the insurer's final response, or eight weeks, you can take a complaint to the ombudsman (MoneyHelper ↗).
Open Financial Ombudsman Service ↗
Run a business? Key person cover asks too
If your company insures you as a key person, the company applies, owns the plan and pays for it, and any payout goes to the business (Royal London ↗) (Legal & General ↗).
You are the person insured, so whether you smoke or vape is part of the application: Legal & General's adviser guide says the key person gives their own personal and medical details (Legal & General ↗).
If Aviva can't decide on a case straight away, it gives free life cover while it looks into it (Aviva ↗).
The business must also be able to show it would lose profits in your absence (Legal & General ↗).
Applicant
The company applies
The business owns the policy and pays for it. You are the person insured.
Your answers
You answer the health questions
The same care applies as for a personal policy: answer every question fully.
Underwriting
The insurer assesses the case
It may ask for more evidence before it decides, as with any application.
Sizing
The cover is sized on the business
How much cover the business can take is based on what it would lose.
Check it for yourself
Every claim on this page is our summary of one of the documents listed here.
We last checked them against the live sources on 28 September 2026.
The documents are the authority, not this page.
Insurers and HMRC update them, so validate any figure or condition at its link before you rely on it.
- Legal & General: life insurance for smokers ↗Its 12-month non-smoker definition, and quitting
- Legal & General for advisers: BMI limits and lifestyle ↗When it applies smoker and ex-smoker rates
- Aviva: life insurance for smokers ↗Who counts as a smoker, its price example, quitting
- Royal London: how lifestyle and health affect the cost of life insurance ↗Smoker definition, BMI, mental health questions
- MoneyHelper: what is life insurance? ↗What affects the cost, terminal illness benefit, honest answers
- NHS Better Health: quit smoking ↗Free support to stop smoking
- MoneyHelper: buying insurance if you’re ill or disabled ↗Disclosure, specialist brokers, shopping around and the Equality Act
- MoneyHelper: if your insurance claim is rejected ↗Reasonable care, and complaints to the Financial Ombudsman
- Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2 ↗The consumer’s duty of reasonable care
- Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, Schedule 1 ↗What an insurer may do after a careless, deliberate or reckless misrepresentation
- Vitality: life insurance with a heart condition ↗What insurers look at after a heart attack
- Legal & General: Key Person Protection technical guide ↗The key person completes the medical details and signs as the life insured
- ABI: protection claims paid in 2024 ↗Share of claims paid, and why claims were declined
- Royal London: key person protection ↗The company applies and owns the plan
- Legal & General: key person insurance ↗Owned and paid for by the business, and the loss of profits it must show
- Aviva for advisers: business life insurance options ↗Free life cover while it looks into a case
- FCA: check a firm ↗Use the Firm Checker before buying insurance
Life insurance for smokers, answered
Not financial advice. This page is general information. Before buying insurance, the FCA tells consumers to check the firm on its Firm Checker (FCA ↗). For free guidance, see MoneyHelper.