Do I need to inform Legal & General if I smoke one cigar per year?

pjamaman

My new life insurance policy from Legal & General states that:

"I will immediately inform Legal & General in writing if there are any changes to any answers given on the application." Taken literally, this means that if I gain or lose weight I need to inform them as I provided my weight when applying. I can't believe they need to know if I gain 2 kg. If a person says they drink 10 units a week and ramp up to 13 units a week, should they proffer this information?

So, what exactly, does a life assurance company need to know? Take the examples below:

What if I smoke one cigar a month (when I declared myself a non-smoker)? What if I start "regularly" scuba diving? What if I have elevated blood pressure once? What if a mole changes appearance (but I have not seen a doctor - it's a self-observed issue)? What if I go to a therapist because my depression has flared up? What if I am diagnosed with bowel cancer? What if I have a heart attack? What if a genetic relative before the age of 60 has a heart attack? What if I have a course of treatment which lasts for longer than two weeks (however mundane it may be e.g. a mild rash)?

Is there some kind of rule which states when you need to inform the company? I'm sure they don't expect people to inform them that they've been drinking an extra glass every week. Equally, I can see people dying then the assurance company checks the records and says: "I see the deceased had a course of treatment five years ago that lasted for a month and the deceased didn't inform us." (This assumes assurance companies do all they can to avoid paying out).

Can someone explain how this works in reality? Thanks.

Old_Lifer

Once the policy is in force changes in health are ignored.     The wording  you have quoted would be designed to cover the  period between  the proposal being completed  and the policy starting,  which can in a few cases be several weeks.

davidmcn

OP, I've Googled that wording, and on all the forms which come up the wording is clearly:

"I will immediately inform Legal & General in writing if there are any changes to any answers given on the application before the policy starts." [emphasis not mine!]

dunstonh

"I will immediately inform Legal & General in writing if there are any changes to any answers given on the application." Taken literally, this means that if I gain or lose weight I need to inform them as I provided my weight when applying. I can't believe they need to know if I gain 2 kg. If a person says they drink 10 units a week and ramp up to 13 units a week, should they proffer this information?

That is for things that may change between application and the policy going inforce or may not have been recorded correctly.

It tells you that if you finish reading it.  Never paraphrase what an insurer is asking.   

pjamaman

davidmcn said:

OP, I've Googled that wording, and on all the forms which come up the wording is clearly:

"I will immediately inform Legal & General in writing if there are any changes to any answers given on the application before the policy starts." [emphasis not mine!]

How embarrassing! I overlooked the words "before the policy starts" which was on a separate line below the text I quoted.

Thanks to everyone for clearing this up. I need to read better in future.