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 applying for a new policy. So for example an illness that has few present symptoms but that can recur frequently. Or previous life shortening diseases that you might have been cured of, but that still affect life expectancy.
Even if you succeed in committing misrepresentation on your life insurance policy, there are still plenty of opportunities for the company to find out if the policy is claimed after you have died. Firstly they will have access to any findings from an autopsy, which is something else insurance companies insist on. They will also have all access to all medical records as far back as child immunizations. So in short if they do find any traces of things such as pre-existing or long-term health complications that you claimed to be free of. Then the claim will be voided and your beneficiary wont be able to collect any payout.
So in general it is not worth voiding the policy to try to lie on your life insurance application. The chances of success in achieving either a lower premium, or being able to in essence commit fraud if you know you do not have long to live are minimal. Thousands of people have tried and failed using all manner of tricks and scams, which the insurance companies have vast experience of. Honesty is always the best way of ensuring that your grieving relatives aren’t left with legal wrangling to deal with in the event of you breaking the policy contract.