Insurers are likely to reject a new medical test designed to identify smokers that could help preven...
Insurers are likely to reject a new medical test designed to identify smokers that could help prevent fraudulent applications for life and critical illness policies.
The test costs less than £5 and instantly shows whether nicotine is present in a person's system. A urine sample is needed for the test which remains clear if there is no nicotine present, but turns pink if there is a nicotine residue and red if the person is a regular smoker.
A number of insurers have stated that they will not begin using the tests immediately because they already have other systems in place, but they have not ruled out introducing the test in the future.
People applying for life insurance may be tempted not to disclose a smoking habit because premium rates for smokers applying can be more than twice that of non-smokers. But applicants who lie on their application form and claim they are non-smokers run the risk of invalidating their policy.
Adam Lewis, spokesperson for BUPA, said: "We do not use [a test]. When we go through a person's medical records or request them from their GP and cross reference it with their application form it becomes obvious whether they are a smoker, and if they start smoking after this then their policy may well become invalid."
There is another test currently available to insurers but the results take much longer to obtain and applicants are not always asked to undertake medical examinations before an insurer will accept them. Louisa Steel, spokesperson for Norwich Union, said: "At the moment we sometimes ask applicants to take a cotinine test if we have asked them to undertake a medical. To introduce a new test would be very expensive, but it is something we may review in due course if it becomes more widely accepted."
Suzanne Moore, spokesperson for the ABI, said: "The costs outweigh the benefits. Insurers rely on the applicants to fill in the forms truthfully. If they lie on the form their policy could become invalid turned down or even cancelled. If you are going to routinely test applicants then it could add up to a large sum of money. I think it will be used in some circumstances during a medical exam, but not as a routine procedure."
