Alcohol and insurance underwriting

This is a factual question, asked for actuarial reasons, and it is best answered plainly. Insurers want to know typical weekly intake, and they set thresholds above which a rating applies. Those thresholds differ between companies, which means the same honest answer can produce different outcomes at different insurers.

The reason accuracy matters here more than most places is that the answer is checkable from two directions. Liver markers are part of the standard underwriting blood panel, and your GP notes may record intake as reported at consultations over the years. An application that says one thing while the file says another creates a disclosure problem, and a disclosure problem is far more damaging than a loading.

The questions are short and the follow-up depends on the answer.

• Typical weekly intake, in standard drinks or units.
• Whether intake has been higher in the past, and when.
• Whether you have ever been advised by a doctor to reduce it.
• Whether you have had any treatment, counselling or programme relating to alcohol.
• Whether any liver investigation has been done, and what it showed.
• Whether there has been any alcohol-related conviction, which some applications ask about.

What the evidence shows

• Liver markers are part of the standard underwriting blood panel where testing is triggered.
• GP notes may record intake as reported at consultations.
• A raised marker usually prompts a request for further information rather than an immediate decision.

Where a loading has been applied, the route to a review is the same as for other measurable factors: a documented sustained reduction, supported by current results and the GP record. This is a rating factor that responds to evidence rather than assertion, and insurers will want the evidence before revisiting terms.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• That thresholds differ by insurer, so the same answer is not rated identically everywhere.
• That liver markers are part of the routine blood panel where testing is required.
• That your GP notes may record intake reported over the years.
• That treatment or counselling relating to alcohol is disclosable in its own right.
• That a mismatch between the form and the file is a disclosure issue, not just a pricing one.

Every New Zealand insurer writes applications where alcohol intake is rated to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.

• Thresholds and the size of any loading differ between insurers, which is worth knowing before applying.
• An adviser can present context where a raised marker has an explanation supported by evidence.
• Where a loading is applied, an adviser can diarise a review and manage the request.
• An adviser will ask the question properly at application, which is what stops an inaccurate answer reaching the file.

There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.

The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.

• An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
• An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
• An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
• An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.

We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.

1. 1

   You tell us what you are looking at

   The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.

2. 2

   An adviser calls you

   A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.

3. 3

   They compare the market

   The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.

4. 4

   You decide, in your own time

   There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.