If you’re a smoker, chances are you’ve probably lied to someone close to you about the number of cigarettes you’ve smoked in the day. Or how much you’ve spent on cigarettes in the past 6 months. Research shows that Britons often lie about their lifestyle and health and fitness and taint the truth at best. However, while this might be okay in social circles it is certainly not advisable when filling out a life insurance application. Simply put, if you lie on your life insurance application it will undoubtedly be uprated (i.e. come back more expensive than quoted) and could be denied altogether.

Worse still you could have a life insurance quote but when the worst happens your lies will come back to haunt your family. Most life insurance policies have a contestability period that allows a life insurance company to deny a death claim if it discovers that a policyholder lied about a medical condition on his or her application. For example, let's say you were a smoker but you did not disclose it on your application. If you died from lung cancer within two years of buying the policy, the insurer could have grounds to not pay the death benefit from your policy.

Although people think they can dupe friends or family members about the veracity of their lifestyle choices, life insurance underwriters are not as inclined to take it on face value. They have several resources at their disposal to authenticate the information you provide on your application. For example, many life insurance policies will require physicals with blood and/or urine samples for policies .If you say you're a non-smoker, but the tests come back positive for nicotine - even in trace amounts - you'll be given the higher smoker rates. If you think you can ‘beat the test’ a second time, think again. At best, you might be allowed to try the physical again after a certain period of time, usually at least a year.

Life insurance underwriters also pick up on discrepancies and if those white lies come back to haunt you they will hit you were it hurts, in the pocket. As part of the underwriting process life insurance companies may require a phone interview with the applicant which asks similar (if not the same) health questions found on the application so any lies will be found out. Also don’t just think they will leave it at that, they may also consult your physician if contact information is provided and permission given.

If the life insurance company suspects you intentionally lied, they have the right to deny the application on the grounds of misrepresentation. So, when you fill out a life insurance application make sure you're as honest and up-front as possible. It is simply not worth bending the truth or lying outright just to get a lower insurance premium. Life insurance policies are taken out to benefit your family if the worst should happen. If the lies mean that the company fails to pay out then it will be your family that suffers, and the money that could be used for funeral arrangements or to look after loved ones will not be forthcoming simply because you failed to disclose some obvious features of your health and lifestyle.