ICICI Lombard's in-house study of the last two years surveys shows that around 5 percent among the total cancer patients were directly related to smoking and tobacco consumption.

"Out of these, 75 percent claims were made by male customers and 25 percent by female customers. The most affected age-group for tobacco-related claims was 46-55 years, with 31 percent male and 41 percent female customers contributing to this age bracket," the study said.

One of the surprising facts that came into the limelight was that 65 percent of the smoking and tobacco consuming population were not at all aware of the concessional premiums for non-smokers. Life insurers provide discounts in their term insurance policies to non smokers.

“However, going forward, health insurers too could take this parameter into account and start incentivising the non-smokers. Even today, it is factored into our underwriting process. For instance, a smoker over the age of 45 may be asked to go through more rigorous health check-ups compared to a non-smoker,” said Shankar Nath, head, marketing and direct, ICICI Lombard.

Also Read

At $48 Bn India's Food Business Larger Than Telecom Sector

4 Biggest Banking And Market Scams Of India