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Direct Life and Pension Services will be pleased to help our customers who need advice.
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NEWS
'Life insurers can test non-smokers'
10 April 2008 17:01:36
Life insurers have means to check that those who apply for cover as non-smokers are telling the truth, rather than just attempting to receive a cheaper life insurance premium, health charity Ash has said.
Research manager for the organisation Amanda Sandford said that insurance companies that require applicants to have a medical assessment could ask for a test, such a saliva sample or use of a carbon monoxide monitor, to be incorporated to assess whether the individual is a smoker.
Norwich Union recently advised that smokers planning to quit could see their monthly life insurance premiums cut by up to almost half by applying for life cover as non-smokers.
For some, this could mean cover for little more than the cost of a packet of 20 cigarettes.
"I don't blame companies for asking for more rigorous tests to be done, because at the end of the day there is a lot of money at stake. There are reasons for offering non-smokers better premiums - we do know that those people will live longer," Ms Sandford added.
According to recent research from Benenden Healthcare, around 14 per cent of smokers nationwide - 1.64 million people - have given up smoking since July 2007.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
Genes for kidney and heart conditions discovered
30 April 2008 17:22:00
Life insurance policies may be affected by claims from scientists that they have made two key discoveries that could help develop treatments for heart and kidney problems.
Researchers at Imperial College London (ICL) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) have found that a gene called osteoglycin plays a key role in regulating heart growth.
The gene can cause the heart to become enlarged, which greatly increases the risk of heart attacks and heart failure.
"A person whose heart is enlarged is more likely to suffer a heart attack or heart failure than someone whose heart is a normal size," explained Dr Stuart Cook, one of the corresponding authors of the study.
"Now that we are unravelling how genes control heart growth, we can gain a better understanding of common forms of heart disease. This should lead to new and more effective ways of treating people," he added.
Meanwhile, a second study discovered a gene that can cause the kidney to become inflamed, increasing the risk of kidney failure.
Scientists claim that this gene could offer a route for tackling the auto-immune destruction of kidney tissue which can occur in lupus patients, causing renal failure.
Both studies are published in the journal Nature Genetics.
Please click here for advice on UK life insurance, life insurance policies and a life insurance quote
Work stress 'harms heart health'
23 January 2008 13:20:00
Cutting work stress could be key to making life insurance more affordable for a larger number of people in the UK.
That is the suggestion arising from research conducted into Whitehall civil servants, which uncovered the biological mechanisms that harm heart health.
While previous studies have linked workplace stress to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), the reason for this has been unclear.
The study published today in the European Heart Journal has been deemed "the strongest evidence yet" of how work stress can lead to CHD.
Monitoring 10,308 civil servants from 1985 onwards, the research team concluded that the chronic work stress associated with CHD was stronger among both men and women under 50.
Their risk was an average 68 per cent more than it was for those who reported no stress at work.
Dr Tarani Chandola, first author of the study, said work stress is also associated with a poor diet and little exercise.
"This study demonstrates that cumulative stress at work can lead to CHD through direct activation of neuroendocrine stress pathways and indirectly through unhealthy behaviours," the doctor concluded.
In a separate study last year, scientists revealed that heart health can be adversely affected by stressful relationships.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online.
10 April 2008 17:01:36
Life insurers have means to check that those who apply for cover as non-smokers are telling the truth, rather than just attempting to receive a cheaper life insurance premium, health charity Ash has said.
Research manager for the organisation Amanda Sandford said that insurance companies that require applicants to have a medical assessment could ask for a test, such a saliva sample or use of a carbon monoxide monitor, to be incorporated to assess whether the individual is a smoker.
Norwich Union recently advised that smokers planning to quit could see their monthly life insurance premiums cut by up to almost half by applying for life cover as non-smokers.
For some, this could mean cover for little more than the cost of a packet of 20 cigarettes.
"I don't blame companies for asking for more rigorous tests to be done, because at the end of the day there is a lot of money at stake. There are reasons for offering non-smokers better premiums - we do know that those people will live longer," Ms Sandford added.
According to recent research from Benenden Healthcare, around 14 per cent of smokers nationwide - 1.64 million people - have given up smoking since July 2007.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
30 April 2008 17:22:00
Life insurance policies may be affected by claims from scientists that they have made two key discoveries that could help develop treatments for heart and kidney problems.
Researchers at Imperial College London (ICL) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) have found that a gene called osteoglycin plays a key role in regulating heart growth.
The gene can cause the heart to become enlarged, which greatly increases the risk of heart attacks and heart failure.
"A person whose heart is enlarged is more likely to suffer a heart attack or heart failure than someone whose heart is a normal size," explained Dr Stuart Cook, one of the corresponding authors of the study.
"Now that we are unravelling how genes control heart growth, we can gain a better understanding of common forms of heart disease. This should lead to new and more effective ways of treating people," he added.
Meanwhile, a second study discovered a gene that can cause the kidney to become inflamed, increasing the risk of kidney failure.
Scientists claim that this gene could offer a route for tackling the auto-immune destruction of kidney tissue which can occur in lupus patients, causing renal failure.
Both studies are published in the journal Nature Genetics.
Please click here for advice on UK life insurance, life insurance policies and a life insurance quote
23 January 2008 13:20:00
Cutting work stress could be key to making life insurance more affordable for a larger number of people in the UK.
That is the suggestion arising from research conducted into Whitehall civil servants, which uncovered the biological mechanisms that harm heart health.
While previous studies have linked workplace stress to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), the reason for this has been unclear.
The study published today in the European Heart Journal has been deemed "the strongest evidence yet" of how work stress can lead to CHD.
Monitoring 10,308 civil servants from 1985 onwards, the research team concluded that the chronic work stress associated with CHD was stronger among both men and women under 50.
Their risk was an average 68 per cent more than it was for those who reported no stress at work.
Dr Tarani Chandola, first author of the study, said work stress is also associated with a poor diet and little exercise.
"This study demonstrates that cumulative stress at work can lead to CHD through direct activation of neuroendocrine stress pathways and indirectly through unhealthy behaviours," the doctor concluded.
In a separate study last year, scientists revealed that heart health can be adversely affected by stressful relationships.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online.