The headlines say that the British drink too much. People in Great Britain say that two-thirds of them drink too much at least once a week, and almost a quarter of them hurt themselves while they are drunk. This is what the Drink Aware Trust and the British Chiropractic Association found in their report.
But binge drinking is not only bad for your health; it can also cost you a lot of money. It not only hurts you financially because you spend more on alcohol each week, but it can also make your Life Insurance premiums go up.
If you talk to the Association of British Insurers, they will tell you that your years and years of heavy drinking will be factored into your life insurance premiums. On the Life Insurance application form, there is a question about how much you drink and smoke. And, just like with other types of insurance, the underwriting is done when you apply.
You might think you can get away with not telling anyone that you've been drinking too much for a while. After all, when you die, no one will really know, right? And you definitely want to drink less alcohol in the years to come. But a representative for the Association of British Insurers says that it is best to tell the truth. If you die, a post-mortem can often tell if you had been drinking for a long time before you got life insurance. If you lied about how much you were drinking at the time, they can refuse to pay out.
The spokesperson says, "The point here, as with any intentional nondisclosure, is that there is a good chance that if you put something that isn't true on your application form and then need to make a claim on that policy, the insurance company will say that your policy is invalid because you intentionally didn't tell them something."
But if you apply for Life Insurance and then start drinking too much afterward, you are most likely entitled to a policy payment. He adds: "Your death could have been caused by drinking too much, in which case the policy would pay out. When you apply, only things that are true at that time are taken into account."
Most insurance companies want to know how much alcohol you drink on average each week and how many units you drink each week. This does depend on the company, though. Most people look at the NHS guidelines to figure out how much alcohol is normal and safe to drink and how much could be dangerous. The company will adjust their premiums in the same way.
Direct Line Insurance charges a 30-year-old man who doesn't drink GBP14.88 a month for Life Insurance. The payment is GBP15.37 for someone who does drink. This can make a big difference over time.
A spokesperson for the ABI says that drinking alcohol is one of the things insurers look at when deciding whether or not to take on a risk and how much the premiums will be for that person.
"From the point of view of public health, there will be doctors working for insurance companies who will be worried about this," he says. But he goes on to say, "The insurance companies must look at this factor the same way they look at all the other factors when figuring out premiums.
