When you apply for life insurance you will be asked to complete a long and in depth form that will request lots of details about your health and lifestyle. If you have been planning to give up smoking for a while and just need that final push, then you may think this is all you need to inspire you. You could decide to give in there and then and then you can tick the non smoker box. Beware of this. Firstly, the question normally applies to the last 12 months and secondly, if you lie to the insurers you risk any claim made by yourself or in the case, your beneficiaries to be refused.
If you tell your life insurance company that you have stopped smoking you could now face tests to see if you are lying. These new urine tests are quick, convenient and cheap and have been developed to expose those who attempt to get cheaper insurance.
Many insurance companies take customers at their word, which means that some are tempted to claim falsely that they have given up smoking. If you do smoke you have to pay up to double of that of a non smoker for certain types of insurance. The biggest one being life insurance as smokers face a higher risk of ill health and premature death.
The urine test kit, invented by Dr Graham Cope, could be another reason for smokers to make a New Year resolution to quit. When the kit is used, urine remains clear if it is from a non smoker, turns pink for occasional smokers and red for heavy smokers.
A test already exists to measure the concentration in urine of cotine which is a by-product of nicotine. This is used to check on smoking habits and the impact of passive smoking on those people living with smokers. However, it is relatively expensive to administer and can take several weeks for the results to come through.
Developed by Mermaid Diagnostics, the new test would sell for less than 5 pounds and could be used as part of medicals that are demanded by insurance companies and administered at their request by a policy holder's family doctor.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said: 'People do pay more for their life insurance if they smoke and they're usually asked whether they have had a cigarette in the last 12 months. By and large insurance companies have been taking people at their word by this test could come in useful if a company has reason to doubt the declaration made by a customer.'
An example of this is if the insurer's write to the customer's GP, who then says he/she is a heavy smoker, but the questionnaire completed by the customer says he/she is a none smoker. The insurance company could then ask the GP to use the test to see if the customer has given up in the last year.
Chief underwriter at life assurer Standard Life, John Gibb welcomed the low cost of the new test. He said smoking tests would probably only be given when a medical examination was already been asked for. 'I would not anticipate that everyone who comes along saying they are a non-smoker would be tested,' he added.
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