How life insurance companies know if you smoke

Life insurance companies find out whether you smoke in three main ways: the questions you answer when you apply, your GP medical records, and a cotinine test carried out by a nurse.² They can also check your records when a claim is made. Because the checks are this thorough, the only safe approach is to answer honestly. This guide explains how each check works, what counts as smoking, and what happens if the answer on your application does not match the truth.

The three ways an insurer knows if you smoke

When you apply for cover, the insurer is trying to price your risk accurately. Smoking and nicotine use change that risk, so insurers have built several layers of verification rather than relying on your word alone.

What you tell them on the application

Every life insurance application asks about smoking and nicotine use. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 you have a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation when you answer.¹ In plain terms, you must answer the questions honestly and carefully. This is the first and most important point at which an insurer learns whether you smoke, and everything else is a way of checking that what you said is true.

Your GP medical records

If you have ever mentioned smoking to your GP, it is very likely recorded in your notes. When you apply, you give the insurer permission to request a report from your GP, and your smoking status can be revealed there.² This is why saying you do not smoke while your records say otherwise is so easily caught.

A cotinine test or nurse screening

Not every application involves a test, but the insurer can ask you to attend a nurse screening, which it arranges and pays for.³ The screening checks things like blood pressure and tests a sample for cotinine, the marker that shows recent nicotine use. If you have said you are a non smoker, the screening confirms it either way.

What the cotinine test actually measures

Insurers test for cotinine rather than nicotine itself, because cotinine is the more stable substance your body makes when it processes nicotine, and it lingers longer. A test picks up nicotine from any source, so it does not matter whether it came from a cigarette, a vape or a patch.³ The test cannot tell how the nicotine got into your body, only that it is there.

Detection windows are general guidance and vary with how much and how often a person uses nicotine. Urine cotinine testing is the most common method for life insurance.³

What counts as smoking to an insurer

Most insurers treat any nicotine use in the last 12 months as smoking, not just cigarettes. The items below are commonly rated as smoking, and even nicotine replacement products can register on a test.

Vaping is the one that catches people out most. Because a vape with nicotine produces cotinine just like a cigarette, it is treated as smoking by almost every UK insurer, even though there is no tobacco.³ A small number of insurers price vaping more kindly than cigarettes, but they are the exception. Cannabis and other drug use is usually asked about in separate questions.

Do all policies need a medical or a test

No. Many policies are accepted on your answers alone, with no nurse screening at all, especially for straightforward applications and more modest amounts of cover. But a policy with no test is not a policy with no checks. The insurer can still request your GP records, and it can investigate when a claim is made. So whether or not you are tested, the honest answer is the one that protects your family.

What happens if you say you do not smoke but you do

This is where it matters most. If your application says non smoker and the truth is different, the insurer is entitled to act on that misrepresentation, and the consequence depends on how the law views what you did.¹

A claim is exactly when this surfaces. If someone dies of a condition linked to smoking, such as lung cancer or heart disease, the insurer is likely to review the medical records before paying, and the truth about smoking can appear there.² A post mortem can also reveal it. The saving from a non smoker premium is small set against the risk of leaving your family with a reduced payout, or none at all, at the worst possible moment.

How to get non smoker rates the right way

The way to pay less is to be a non smoker, not to claim to be one. With most insurers you are treated as a non smoker once you have used no nicotine of any kind for 12 months.³ If you have given up, it is worth keeping a note of your quit date, because once you pass that point you can apply for cover at non smoker rates, and people who already hold a policy can often ask to be reassessed.

Buying earlier and honestly almost always works out cheaper over the life of the policy than gambling on a claim that might be cut or refused. If you are unsure how your nicotine use would be classed, say so when you apply, and you will be quoted on the correct basis.

How much smoking adds to your premium

Smoking is one of the biggest single factors in the price of life insurance, behind age. As a rough guide, a smoker often pays close to double what a non smoker pays for the same cover. You can see how price moves with age, and where smoking sits among the other factors, in our guide to the average cost of life insurance.

Expert comment

People assume a small fib about smoking is harmless because no one tests them at the application. The catch is that the test that matters most often comes later, at the claim, when medical records are reviewed. By then it is your family dealing with it, not you. Be honest, get priced correctly, and the cover does exactly what you bought it to do.

Paul Gillooly, Founder, Surely

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Surely is a trading name of PJG Financial Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FRN 919697.