Many people every year are caught lying on their life insurance agreements, seemingly because they think that they can fool the companies. The fact is however that these companies are harder to trick than most people think, and that they have professionals who uncover these deceptions as a career. Taking out life insurance of course is generally a good idea as it protects you and your family in case anything should happen to you. However the insurance companies are only obliged to pay out in the result that you were honest and truthful when applying for the policy in the first place. And if it is uncovered that you weren't, then they will often cancel the policy and the contract will be null and void.

When you choose to give false information you run the risk of being basically uninsured. However if you were to give a misrepresentation unknowingly, the policy would still be valid. So for example if you claimed on your application that you were in perfect health and it turned out that you had a fatal disease, which you knew about. Then the claim would likely be voided. However if you claimed prefect health, which to the best of your knowledge you had. And it soon after transpired that you had a fatal disease, then the policy would still be valid. Basically because misrepresentation is only criminal if it is knowingly done.

Most of the time actually trying to deceive life insurance companies is very difficult to do anyway. Due in large to the fact that many policies will come with the stipulation that you undergo a full medical by one of their approved doctors. Often as well as a battery of questions and tests regarding your lifestyle. So even if you might want to tell them that you don't smoke or drink for example, they will usually be able to tell through your medical results. Generally through things such as blood pressure, and traces of chemicals in the blood that show signs of health concerns.

Another method of checking that insurance companies will do is to consult the medical Information Bureau, which is a database that all insurance companies use. It contains detailed medical information on every person who has ever applied for life insurance and is useful for several reasons. Firstly it can ensure that you do not take out multiple policies with different companies for any reason. This in itself would be considered unusual and would be investigated. Secondly it also makes sure that you don't have any ailments that might have gone unnoticed if

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Consequences of lying on your life insurance application?
We want to hear your view. Write now!