Smoking & Life Insurance in Ireland

10-second summary: If you smoke or vape, life insurance in Ireland usually costs twice as much as non-smoker rates. Insurers class you as a smoker if you’ve used tobacco, vapes or nicotine replacement products within the last 12 months. Once you’ve been nicotine-free for a year, you can apply for cheaper non-smoker premiums.

The packaging on the auld smokes has been changed for years now, and if anything, all it’s done is train smokers to steadfastly ignore the big rotten tumour on it.

The massive jump in the price of cigarettes over the last few years has probably done more to dissuade people from smoking.

It’s why that one mate is always so popular when he comes back from Spain with a suitcase loaded with packets of 200 cigs for cheap.

I’m not going to tell you not to smoke.

I’m not your ma.

I’m also not going to tell you about the health risks because we all already know. After all, we’ve seen that big rotten tumour on the packets.

I am going to tell you that smoking or vaping makes your life insurance premiums more expensive.

And don’t think you’re not included in this one too, vapers.

While your vape may smell like cotton candy or whatever notion-y flavour you’ve gone for, insurers will charge you more.

And whether you smoke the occassional one when you’re out-out or twenty per day, the insurers sees you both as smokers.

How much more expensive is life insurance if you smoke?

I can’t give you an exact quote because I don’t know your personal situation, Mr/Ms Blog Reader, but I can give you an example.

Cheech and Chong are 30-somethings looking for €300,000 cover for the next 30 years.

For argument’s sake, everything about them is exactly the same except that one smokes and the other doesn’t.

Let’s say Cheech, the non-smoker, and Chong, the smoker, both go with Royal London.

Across the lifetime of their policy the difference really adds up.

Chong will pay more than €6,000 extra for the exact same cover.

And let’s not even go near how much he might be spending a month on the smokes.

It adds up to thousands over those 30 years.

The only way to get cheaper life insurance as a smoker is to quit for 12 months.

Getting mortgage protection as a smoker

In case you’re skimming: you have to be off the cigs to get cheaper mortgage protection.

You must be off all tobacco and nicotine products for 12 months before insurers will consider you a non-smoker.

That includes:

• cigarettes
• cigars
• vapes (including 0% nicotine)
• nicotine patches
• nicotine gum
• chewing tobacco

You may have to give Keith Barry a buzz and ask him to hypnotise you.

Now you may be thinking you’ll just lie.

Lookit, you wouldn’t be the first person in the world to have that thought.

But if you die and the insurer proves you used nicotine in the 12 months before taking out life insurance, the policy can be void.

At best your family might get a refund of the premiums, which won’t mean much if the mortgage still needs paying.

What about Income Protection and Serious Illness Cover?

Same, you’ll pay more as a smoker.

I’m now a non-smoker. Can I get cheaper life insurance?

Well done for giving up cigarettes (from one ex-smoker to another).

Here, I made you a badge of honour.

You can qualify for non-smoker rates once you’ve been nicotine-free for 12 months.

However, insurers handle this differently.

Some insurers will simply ask you to complete a short declaration confirming your health hasn’t changed since you took out the policy.

Others will make you apply all over again and go through full underwriting.

Choosing the right insurer matters if you plan to quit

If you currently smoke but plan to quit, the insurer you choose today can make a difference later.

If you have to submit a completely new application and your health has changed since the policy started, you could face higher premiums or exclusions that weren’t there before.

That’s why choosing an insurer that makes switching to non-smoker rates straightforward can be important if quitting is part of your plan.

Life Insurance for Smokers FAQ

Will I get away with lying about smoking?

You might.

But if you don’t get away with it and the insurer finds out, your policy could be void and your family won’t receive the payout.

Don’t do it.

If you’re a social smoker, disclose it honestly, quit, and apply again once you’ve been nicotine-free for 12 months.

Do insurers test whether you’re a smoker?

Usually not.

But you may randomly be asked to take a cotinine test with your GP.

This test detects nicotine in blood, saliva, urine or hair.

What if you only smoke occasionally?

Which box would you tick?

If it isn’t “I have never smoked”, insurers will classify you as a smoker.

Do vapes count as smoking for life insurance?

Yes.

All Irish insurers class vaping as smoking.

This rule has applied since 2019.

What if one partner smokes and the other doesn’t?

Insurers assess each person separately.

The smoker pays smoker rates and the non-smoker pays non-smoker rates.

If the smoker plans to quit, choosing the right insurer matters because some make switching to non-smoker rates much easier than others.

Over to you…

Smoking always increases the cost of life insurance.

The only reliable way to get cheaper premiums is to quit and remain nicotine-free for a full year.

If you or your partner have already quit, you could halve your premium by applying for non-smoker rates.

If you’re determined to keep smoking, fair enough.

Something gets us all eventually – it might as well be something you enjoy.

The discounts we can access often soften the extra cost smokers pay.

If you’d like help finding the most suitable cover, complete this short questionnaire and I’ll come back to you.

Editor’s Note: We first published this article in 2018 and updated it in 2026 to reflect current life insurance rules used by Irish insurers.