High street insurers calculate e-cigarettes to be as dangerous as smoking for life insurance policies.
Doubts over the safety of vaping mean people who use e-cigarettes containing nicotine receive the same premiums as smokers.
No major insurance firm in Britain is prepared to downgrade the risk for vapers, an industry conference heard.
It means choosing to use the devices, rather than quitting entirely, can double the cost of life insurance.

Doubts over the safety of vaping mean people who use e-cigarettes containing nicotine receive the same premiums as smokers
A growing number of experts are worried about the long-term effects of e-cigarettes, given the shortage of evidence on their safety. Research on animals has linked the devices to cancers, heart disease and lung conditions.
Diacetyl, used in e-cigarette flavourings, is linked to an incurable condition called ‘popcorn lung’, so-called as it is common in popcorn factory workers, that scars air sacs in the lungs.
This week Professor Gillian Leng, of health watchdog Nice, warned e-cigarettes are sold as ‘edgy lifestyle devices’ which could encourage long-term use.
Insurance expert Andrew Wibberley said high street firms calculating health risks over a lifetime draw no distinction between vapers and smokers.

No major insurance firm in Britain is prepared to downgrade the risk for vapers, an industry conference heard
At a meeting of the UK Vaping Industry Association, he said: ‘In practice, if you are a non-smoker you are paying about £10 a month for a life insurance policy. If you are a smoker, and largely that includes e-cigarette users, you are paying about £20 a month for a policy.’
Half of working adults in Britain have a life insurance policy, with about one million a year signing up for one.
Figures from Future Proof, an independent insurance broker, put the average 20-year cost for £100,000 of life cover at £12,617 for a 60-year-old non-smoker. But that more than doubles if they use e-cigarettes, to £30,924.
The average 25-year charge for a 40-year-old with £100,000 cover rises from £2,838 to £5,877 if they vape.