According to a leading insurance company, smoking is taken in to account when calculating life insurance premiums.

Sarah Horner, a spokesperson for Norwich Union said: ‘A non-smoker can pay around half the premium as their smoker counterpart.’

Industry experts have suggested the smoking ban that was introduced in July 2007 would encourage more people to quit smoking. However, Miss Horner believes it will take some time before these people will enjoy lower life cover premiums.

‘At Norwich Union we ask that people have been free from using tobacco products for 12 months or more before they are classed as non-smokers.’

‘It is probably too early to tell the full impact of the smoking ban, but the savings for non-smokers can be significant, so it is quite possible that in July we may see people requesting fresh quotes for their policies as non-smokers.’