Does vaping count as smoking for life insurance? With Legal & General and Aviva, yes: L&G says so in terms, and Aviva's underwriting guide classes vape-only applicants as smokers, while the Zurich and Royal London forms below ask about vapes in the same question as cigarettes. The same documents give answers on nicotine gum, patches, cigars and shisha, and on whether a vape without nicotine counts. If you would like your own vaping or nicotine use checked against insurers' questions, fill in the free form and a broker, FCA-authorised, will give you a call back.
This page sets out what each insurer's own wording says, product by product, and where you need to ask. How much a smoker rate adds to a premium is covered in our guide to what smokers pay, and how long you must stay nicotine-free is on the non-smoker waiting period page.
What do insurers' own forms ask about vaping?
Each insurer words the question itself. Here is how four of them word it, with print dates:
| Insurer and document | What the wording names | Period asked about |
|---|---|---|
| Legal & General, smoker declaration (W10785 02/26) | Cigarettes, cigars, a pipe "(including shisha/hookah)", vapes, e-cigarettes, nicotine replacements | The last 12 months |
| Aviva, personal protection application (AL55001 08/2026) | Cigarettes, vapes, e-cigarettes, "tobacco or nicotine products" | Answer options run from "within last 12 months" to "more than five years ago" |
| Zurich, smoking questionnaire (NP720800002 10/21) | Cigarettes including roll-ups, vapes and e-cigarettes "containing nicotine", cigars, pipes, other tobacco or nicotine products "including patches and gum" | Answer options from "less than 12 months ago" to "more than 5 years ago" |
| Royal London, relevant life plan application (P9A0030/23) | "smoked, vaped, used e-cigarettes, tobacco or nicotine products" | The last 12 months, then ever |
All four are forms published for advisers. The L&G and Aviva ones are for personal cover; the Royal London one is for a relevant life plan, a business-protection product an employer buys, so it shows how that insurer words the question, not what its personal application asks. The Zurich form dates from October 2021, so check it against the version you are given, or ask the broker to compare them when they call you back.
Legal & General's consumer page (16 September 2026) puts the vaping answer plainly: "Yes, vaping is effectively classed as smoking for life insurance purposes." Vitality's guide (last updated 9 December 2025, archived copy of 15 February 2026) says "Most insurers treat vaping in the same way they treat smoking" and that the definition "depends on the insurer". On health, the NHS says nicotine vaping "is not risk-free, but it is less harmful than smoking"; an insurer's category comes from its own terms, not from that comparison.
Do nicotine-free vapes, gum, patches and pouches count?
Here the wordings differ, which matters if you vape without nicotine. Legal & General's form tells you to answer yes to any listed use even if the product contained no nicotine, and its consumer page says nicotine-free vapes still make you a smoker for its purposes. Aviva's form asks about vapes or e-cigarettes "even if they do not contain nicotine", and its underwriting guide says that applicants who only use vapes or e-cigarettes "even if they don’t contain nicotine, will be classed as smokers". Zurich's 2021 questionnaire words it as vapes and e-cigarettes "containing nicotine".
Gum, patches and lozenges are named by several. Aviva's consumer page lists patches, gum and lozenges as nicotine substitutes that class you as a smoker, Zurich's form names "patches and gum", and Royal London and LV= refer to nicotine replacement or substitutes.
Nicotine pouches such as Zyn are not named on any of these forms. Aviva's, Royal London's and Zurich's forms ask about "nicotine products" or other tobacco or nicotine products, so whether a pouch counts, like how Zurich would rate a nicotine-free vape, depends on the insurer: ask before you answer, or have the broker find out for you on the free call-back.
What about cigars, pipes and shisha?
Cigars appear on every form in the table. Legal & General lists them with pipes "(including shisha/hookah)" in its smoker question. Aviva's underwriting guide names cigars in one of its non-smoker definitions (quoted below), and its application has separate fields for large cigars and small cigars or cigarillos. Zurich and Royal London name cigars and pipes, and Vitality's guide lists hookah among the forms "considered the same by insurers".
Occasional use is not a way round the question. Legal & General's declaration offers "Yes – occasionally" as an answer, Aviva's form asks you to tell it "even if you only use on an occasional basis", and Royal London's form says to "Answer Yes if you have used them even on an occasional basis". LV= says insurers need to know whether you smoke "a pack a day or casually smoke a cigar". If what you smoke is cannabis, see cannabis and life insurance.
Do any insurers treat these more kindly?
On the four forms above, current use of nicotine vapes or nicotine replacement goes in the smoking answer. Where the insurers differ is in the questions about time since you stopped, and in the wording differences above.
- Aviva's underwriting guide classes someone as an ex-smoker if they "smoked within the last five years but not in the last 12 months". It defines a non-smoker in two different ways: in one place as "someone who has not used tobacco products – cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco or the use of nicotine replacement products (such as e-cigarettes) – in the five years prior to their proposal", and in its classification rules as "someone who has never used cigarettes, tobacco or nicotine replacement products". Go by the question on your application.
- Zurich's 2021 questionnaire separates stopped less than 12 months ago, 1-3 years, 3-5 years and more than 5 years. Legal & General's business-protection application (W13430 03/26) asks a further question about the last five years apart from the last 12 months; it does not show what L&G's personal application asks. Neither form says what is done with those answers.
Nothing here ranks one insurer above another: a form that does not name a product does not make that insurer lenient about it. A broker can put your exact use to several insurers and ask how each would record it, and the form here starts that for free in a few minutes. Smoker status is one of several things that set the price, set out in what life insurance costs.
How do insurers check what you tell them?
Several of the forms say they may test. Legal & General's declaration notes "A simple medical test may be required to check your answer". Aviva's form says "We may carry out tests to confirm use", and its underwriting guide states that "an accurate and reliable test for the presence of cotinine (a by-product of nicotine) is routinely used by insurers to test declared non-smokers". Our page on life insurance without a medical covers when a medical is asked for at all.
What if you answer no and it turns out you vape?
The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 expects reasonable care from you when you fill in the form. Section 4 limits the insurer's remedies to a qualifying misrepresentation: one made without that care, where the insurer also proves that a correct answer would have led it to decline or to set different terms. The burden of proving that an answer was deliberate or reckless sits with the insurer, but section 5 presumes, "unless the contrary is shown", that you knew why a clear and specific question on the form mattered to it. That is why the vape and nicotine-free wording on the forms above matters.
If an answer was deliberate or reckless, Schedule 1 lets the insurer avoid the policy and refuse all claims, and it may hold on to the premiums unless keeping them would be unfair to you. A careless answer has its own remedies, which turn on what the insurer would have done with the right one. These are set out in what you must disclose.
Frequently asked questions
Does vaping affect my life insurance?
With Legal & General and Aviva, vaping means you are asked to answer as a smoker, whatever the nicotine content. If you already hold a policy, Legal & General's page says switching from cigarettes to vaping "won’t automatically have an impact on your policy", though for a new policy it treats the two as the same.
Can I get life insurance if I vape?
Vaping puts you in the smoker category with L&G and Aviva. Acceptance turns on your whole application. If an insurer has said no, life insurance with medical conditions explains where to go next, and a broker may try other insurers, with no guarantee of an offer.
Does nicotine gum affect life insurance?
Aviva's consumer page says gum is a nicotine substitute that classes you as a smoker, and Zurich's 2021 form names "patches and gum". Check the wording on the application you complete.
Do nicotine pouches count as smoking?
How a pouch is recorded varies from insurer to insurer, so it is best to ask before you answer.
If you are unsure which box your vaping or pouch use belongs in, a broker will go through it with you once you request a call using the form. More in health and underwriting.
Sources
- Legal & General, Smoker / Non-Smoker Declaration (W10785 02/26), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, OLP Connect application form, business protection (W13430 03/26), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life insurance for smokers (16 September 2026), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Aviva, Personal protection application (AL55001 08/2026; adviser document), read 19 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Understanding Underwriting (PT15357 0926; adviser document), read 19 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Life insurance for smokers (published 13 February 2023), read 19 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Zurich, Smoking questionnaire (NP720800002 10/21; adviser site), read 19 October 2026. zurichintermediary.co.uk
- Royal London, Relevant life plan application form (P9A0030/23; adviser document), read 19 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
- Royal London, What factors affect the cost of life insurance? (undated), read 19 October 2026. royallondon.com
- Vitality, Life Insurance for Smokers (last updated 9 December 2025; archived capture of 15 February 2026), read 19 October 2026. vitality.co.uk (archive)
- LV=, Life insurance for smokers UK (last updated 5 May 2026), read 19 October 2026. lv.com
- NHS Better Health, Vaping myths and the facts (undated), read 19 October 2026. nhs.uk
- legislation.gov.uk, Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, sections 2, 4 and 5 and Schedule 1, read 19 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk