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Insurance firms get tough on drinkers

January 22, 2009 by admin  
Filed under News, News-Insurance

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According to recent reports some insurance companies are getting tough with consumers that drink more alcohol than the amount recommended, penalising them in terms of how much they have to pay for their cover.

Life insurance companies are now hiking up the cost of premiums for those that tend to drink excessive levels of alcohol, which is anything more than the amount that is recommended. The current maximum recommended levels are fourteen units for women and twenty one units for men.

Binge drinking is s subject that has been in the news a great deal over the past few years, and younger consumers in particular are creating worries because of the number of people getting involved in binge drinking sessions. However, some people that are found to be drinking over the recommended limits are finding that their life insurance premiums are going up by as much as double in some cases.

One insurance company official stated: ‘Heavy drinkers are more likely to suffer from liver disease, high blood pressure and strokes. They are also more likely to have an accident, possibly fall into the road, and they are more likely to be involved in a fight.’ Another said: ‘Insurance companies are simply making a normal judgment of risk.’

As part of new measures to tackle these problems many insurance firms are checking medical notes with doctors in order to verify that insurance applicants are not lying about how much alcohol they drink. Even those that see themselves as being just moderate drinkers could be exceeding the limits, and could therefore find themselves paying much higher premiums for their cover.

Tags: alcohol insurance, life insurance, drink, alcohol, pressure, hiking

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Comments

One Response to “Insurance firms get tough on drinkers”
  1. Ian Copestaker says:
    February 18, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    I think this is only similar to the smoker vs non-smoker debate. If you’re more of a risk then I guess you should pay more – quite simple really.

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