When it comes to the cost of life insurance, the premiums are primarily calculated based on your age, medical history and lifestyle. What that means is older people, or those who have preexisting health conditions, will typically pay a higher rate for life insurance coverage compared to those who are younger and healthy. As such, it may be tempting to omit health information or mislead the insurance company on your personal rating factors to get a cheaper rate.

Advertising Disclosure
This advertising widget is powered by HomeInsurance.com, a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 8781838) and a corporate affiliate of Bankrate. The offers and clickable links that appear on this advertisement are from companies that compensate Homeinsurance.com LLC in different ways. The compensation received and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear, and how, where, and in what order they appear. While we seek to provide a wide range of offers, we do not include every product or service that may be available to you as a consumer. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. Your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this widget. All offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser.

Compare life insurance providers quickly and easily

See which provider is right for you.

Location-Icon
Your information is kept secure
Caret DownCaret Up
Please select age
Caret DownCaret Up
Please select Coverage amount
Caret DownCaret Up
Please select Policy type
Powered by HomeInsurance.com (NPN: 8781838)
Insurance Disclosure

This advertising widget is powered by HomeInsurance.com, a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 8781838) and a corporate affiliate of Bankrate. HomeInsurance.com LLC services are only available in states where it is licensed and insurance coverage through HomeInsurance.com may not be available in all states. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way.

View rate Arrow Right
Bankrate
Why Lemonade? It's a fresh twist on life insurance: easy, accessible and affordable.
See more providers in
Choose from insurers in

However, lying or being dishonest on a life insurance application is never a good idea, and it may even have serious consequences if you’re caught, like having your coverage disqualified or not having your death benefits paid to your beneficiaries after you die. Plus, insurance providers have numerous ways to verify information, so it’s important to understand what could happen if you lie on your life insurance application.

Lying on a life insurance application

Falsifying information on your life insurance application may seem like a harmless way to get a better rate. However, if you are caught lying on your application, there are a number of consequences you can face, including being charged with committing insurance fraud, which could possibly lead to criminal charges.

Unfortunately, lying on a life insurance application is not uncommon, especially among people who are older or have chronic health problems. Here are a few examples of false claims commonly made on applications:

  • Age: Someone may indicate they are younger than their true age.
  • Weight: Someone who is obese may report a lower weight than is accurate.
  • Family medical history: Someone might fail to share a family history of a critical condition or disease, such as cancer, even if a parent or sibling recently battled with it.
  • Personal medical history: Someone may omit details about a significant past health issue.
  • Tobacco use: Someone who occasionally smokes cigarettes may intentionally check the “non-smoker” box.
  • Drug use: Someone who has abused a drug may omit admission of their drug use.
  • Mental health: Someone who has depression or another clinical mental health issue may forego details about their mental health history.

Other common areas of misinformation include details about income, occupation, international travel to war zones, prescriptions and other circumstances related to health or lifestyle.

People tend to lie on their life insurance application to avoid paying a higher premium. Someone who has significant pre-existing health conditions — like cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure — will likely pay a higher rate than someone who is in good health. Additionally, a 50-year-old will usually pay less for their life insurance than a 60-year-old, which is why some people may be tempted to lie about their age. Despite a fear of a higher premium, the best course of action is to truthfully answer life insurance application questions to avoid policy denial or cancellation during the contestability period.

If you are worried about paying a higher rate based on your health status, you can compare multiple life insurance policy types so that you can purchase the coverage you need at a rate you can afford.

How insurance companies verify your life insurance application

After you submit your life insurance application, the underwriter begins the verification process. They assess the findings from your underwriting medical exam (if you took one) or health questionnaire, review your medical records and may even conduct personal interviews with friends and relatives. Since insurers work with multiple forms of documentation, they are more than likely to spot any discrepancies between your application and your medical files.

Life insurance companies also use information from the MIB when verifying life insurance applications. The MIB maintains a database containing a profile on every individual who has previously submitted insurance applications for health or life insurance. If there is any information in the database relating to false statements or misrepresentations, it could prevent approval for a future life insurance policy.

Consequences of lying on your life insurance application

Lying on your life insurance application can be considered a form of insurance fraud and could come with serious consequences and impact future insurability. However, the consequences may vary based on the severity of the omission.

If you are caught lying during the application process, the insurance company can immediately decline coverage. The incident could get logged into the MIB, which means other life insurers can see the incident too if you apply for coverage in the future. If this information is flagged in your file, getting a life insurance policy from another carrier could be more difficult or nearly impossible.

If the lie is relatively minor, you might be able to get approved for coverage, but you could pay a higher rate than you would otherwise or you could face coverage limitations.

If you pass away within the first two years after the policy is issued and the insurance company discovers false statements on your application, your beneficiaries may not receive the full death benefit or could be completely denied benefits. The time when insurers may still investigate statements on the application to determine if misrepresentations were made is called the contestability period. There is usually a two-year contestability period from the time your policy goes into effect, where your beneficiaries’ death benefit can either be denied or decreased if the life insurer discovers misinformation on the application. Typically, the insurer would calculate how much coverage your premiums would have purchased during the contestability period if you had answered the questions truthfully to calculate the death benefit your beneficiaries are eligible for.

What if I make an honest mistake on my application?

Life insurance applications contain numerous questions and completing the process will probably require you to review your medical history over the past few decades. It is entirely possible that you could forget important information or resort to making some educated guesses. If that happens, it generally shouldn’t impact your application or future coverage.

Insurance fraud occurs when someone intentionally lies or reports incorrect information for their own benefit. If you have to guess your current weight or you forget about a medication you took 10 years ago, the life insurer likely won’t penalize you. However, it helps to get a copy of your past medical records before filling out the application to ensure your information is as accurate as possible.

Frequently asked questions

    • There are numerous ways in which people will intentionally provide incorrect information on life insurance applications. For example, it’s common for applications to lie about their age, their income, or their weight, medical conditions, family medical history, or even their current prescriptions. It’s also relatively common for applicants to lie about their alcohol or drug use.
    • It’s unlikely that you would go to jail for lying on a life insurance application. Still, doing so can have serious consequences outside of getting arrested or doing time in jail. If you’re caught lying on a life insurance application, it may cause the insurer to decline you for coverage. Or, you may be charged a higher premium or have the coverage amount reduced if you’re caught. The incident will also likely be recorded in the MIB database, which gives other insurance companies access to your history of intentional misrepresentation. If that happens, it could be very difficult to buy life insurance from another insurer in the future.
    • Even with pre-existing health conditions, securing a life insurance policy with some insurance providers is possible. For example, a guaranteed issue life insurance policy has no medical exam requirement and approves applicants regardless of their health history. You can also look into simplified issue life insurance, which only requires a written health questionnaire rather than a physical medical exam.

      Furthermore, if your health diagnosis is well-managed according to prescriptions or doctor’s advice, your condition may not prevent you from passing a medical exam and obtaining coverage. Additionally, since the pandemic began, many insurers have increased their offerings of no medical exam policies.

    • Life insurance providers review various factors besides your medical history, such as your income and occupation. They may also review your net worth and other financial information. Risk factors associated with your lifestyle are considered, including if you take part in hobbies such as skydiving, rock climbing and other risky activities. International travel has also become an issue, as life insurers are now denying new coverage for travelers to war zones like Ukraine and Russia.