Vaping Risks in Protection Policy Underwriting
Catherine Alexander
Partner and Mortgage & Protection Adviser at GDA
It took decades for insurers to fully recognise smoking as a major health risk and adopt smoker and non-smoker rates, but now vaping is starting to demand attention from underwriters with the number of e-cigarette users having surged from 800,000 in 2012 to 5.6 million today, according to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a public health charity founded by the Royal College of Physicians. Significantly, the highest prevalence of vaping is now seen in younger people, particularly those the in 16 to 24 age group.
While vaping is generally considered less harmful than traditional cigarettes, the nicotine they contain remains a risk. Nicotine affects the entire body, raising blood pressure and heart rate, and narrowing arteries, which can increase the risk of heart attack. Research from the US found that the impact on cardiovascular health among vapers is similar to that of smokers, even though e-cigarette users tend to be younger. Insurers are now saying that while we don’t know the full impact of vapes, and they appear to be safer than tobacco, they are still likely to be harmful to health and life expectancy.
The collection of new data through freedom of information requests has also driven insurers to look at the risks of vaping more closely:
Requests to fire and rescue services across the UK due to fires caused by vapes and e-cigarettes have more than doubled in the past two years, primarily due to the discarding of disposable vapes, which contain lithium-ion batteries.
Since 2021, the use of higher-strength e-liquids has also risen, with more than half of those who have never smoked now using e-liquids with a concentration of 20mg or more.
The chemicals in e-cigarette vapor have been linked to lung damage and death. In 2019, the US reported more than 2,800 non-fatal and 60 fatal cases of e-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI), mostly due to vitamin E acetate in counterfeit vape liquids.
In the UK, one EVALI-related death has been recorded, and by January 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had logged 244 vaping-related adverse events, including four fatalities.
While vaping is typically associated with nicotine use, the presence of spice or other synthetic substances introduces serious risks, as these compounds can be highly unpredictable and dangerous.
Currently insurers tend to treat all forms of nicotine consumption the same, but the rising trends in vaping are prompting some reconsideration.
In terms of insurance applications, insurers will ask about nicotine products such as cigarettes, roll-ups, vapes, e-cigarettes containing nicotine, cigars, pipes, and other tobacco or nicotine products, including patches and gum - but no weight is given to it’s consumption, e.g., given the high nicotine content in some of these products – a 20mg vape can deliver the same amount of nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.
We will need to wait and see what effect the UK Government’s new law banning the sale or supply any single-use or ‘disposable’ vapes has on the upwards trajectory of vaping, and indeed the proposed age of sale restrictions for tobacco that could come into force on the 1st of January 2027, which would mean that tobacco can never be legally sold to anyone born on, or after, the 1st of January 2009. But considering the current upwards trend in vaping, the emphasis is now likely to switch from smoking cigarettes to the newer variety of nicotine products, with insurers factoring in what they believe will happen 20 to 40 years down the line. We can therefore expect to see changes in the way that insurers treat those applications disclosing a history of vaping.
This article is for general information and does not constitute personal financial advice. If you’re unsure what’s best for you, seek independent financial advice.
