Life insurance companies know if you smoke first because the application asks you, and an insurer can then check your answer with a nicotine test at a nurse screening or medical, a report from your GP, or your medical records when a claim is made. Not every applicant goes through every check; it depends on the insurer and on what you apply for.

If you would like your own smoking or vaping history matched to each insurer's question before you apply, an FCA-authorised broker is able to help, by phone and free: just complete the form on this page.

Whether vapes, patches or pouches make you a smoker is covered on whether vaping counts as smoking, and the price gap on how much more smokers pay.

What does the smoking question on an application cover?

Smoking is one of the standard lifestyle questions. Aviva's guide to medical checks (last updated 2 July 2025) lists it with alcohol, height and weight among the things you will usually be asked "and if you smoke". Every later check is measured against that answer, so the period the question looks back over matters.

That period is each insurer's own. Legal & General's smokers guide (16 September 2026) and Vitality's guide (last updated 9 December 2025, read in an archived copy from February 2026) both look back 12 months and both count vapes and nicotine replacement products as well as tobacco; Legal & General applies its rule even where the product contained no nicotine. Aviva's smokers page, published 13 February 2023, treats you as a previous smoker once you have gone 12 months or more without tobacco or nicotine products, may offer different rates if you stopped one to five years ago, and counts you as a non-smoker after five years. LV='s guide (updated 5 May 2026) says the criteria depend on the insurer, and that most treat you as a non-smoker once you have gone at least one to five years without a cigarette or nicotine substitute.

So the safe reading is the one printed on the form in front of you, not a rule remembered from another insurer. Our page on how long you must be smoke-free deals with quitting.

What does a life insurance nicotine test look for?

The test insurers describe to advisers is a cotinine test. Cotinine is a by-product of nicotine, and Aviva's underwriting guide written for financial advisers (PT15357, September 2026) calls the test accurate and reliable and says insurers use it routinely on applicants who declare themselves non-smokers. Royal London's adviser website, which states it is for financial advisers only, says the test indicates whether someone has been using products that contain nicotine. In other words, it points to nicotine from any source, not only from cigarettes.

Insurers' guides for customers use plainer words. Legal & General says an application may need a smoking test before it is approved, and that an applicant who has declared non-smoker status "may be invited to a medical exam, which can also include a blood test". Its medical-records guide (12 August 2026) lists "a smoker test" next to blood and urine tests among what an exam may include. Aviva's mini screening is a nurse visit at home or work that usually includes a urine test, and Aviva adds: "A test to confirm your smoker status may also be completed."

As for who gets tested, Royal London tells advisers it may ask for a cotinine test when the applicant answered no to the smoking question and has been sent for a miniscreen, paramedical or doctor's examination. Legal & General gives two common reasons for a blood test: something disclosed on the application, or cases "where the level of risk is particularly high", such as a very large amount of cover or your age when you apply. How far back a given insurer's test can pick up nicotine, and how often it asks for one, are things the broker can raise with the insurers it works with when it phones you.

Can your GP's records show that you smoke?

Yes, if the insurer asks for a report and you agree to it. Legal & General's medical-records guide lists what a doctor's report may cover, from blood pressure readings, prescribed medicines and test results to "lifestyle information such as smoking habits or alcohol use", though an insurer "won’t necessarily request information on all" of it, only what is relevant. Vitality warns that if the GP's report says you smoke, "this could invalidate your policy".

Your consent comes first. Legal & General says an insurer needs it to see your medical records, that you can ask to read the report before your doctor sends it, and that insurers do not always need to check records with a doctor. Aviva asks your doctor for a report "with your permission". A GP report can come up later too: Vitality says that if you stop after taking out smoker cover, an insurer may want evidence, such as a report on your general health from your GP or a test.

If an old note about smoking in your records leaves you unsure how to answer, a broker can help you settle it before you apply; send your number using the form on this page. There is no charge for the call.

Do insurers check smoking after a death or a claim?

They can. Legal & General's medical-records guide says that to process a claim, life insurers "may need to check medical records following a death", and its smokers guide says that if you fall ill and claim, "your medical records could soon make it clear that you’re a smoker". Aviva puts the question many people ask, "how would they ever know?", and answers that a health report turned up in a claim investigation, showing you were not truthful, could invalidate the policy.

People also search for whether insurers test for nicotine after someone has died. How a particular insurer looks into a claim, beyond reading the medical records, is worth asking the broker about on the free call-back.

LV='s guide says the vast majority of claims are paid, but that a small number are not, and "this may be due to withheld medical or lifestyle information." That is why a smoking answer given years earlier can still count when a claim is made.

Could a claim be cut or refused over a wrong smoking answer?

It could, depending on how the answer came to be wrong. Legal & General warns that false information about your smoker status can mean a reduced payout, or an invalidated policy, once a claim is made. The rules behind that sit in the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 (CIDRA), whose section 2 places a duty on you to take reasonable care when answering, so that you do not misrepresent anything to the insurer.

Section 5 sorts a qualifying misrepresentation into two kinds: deliberate or reckless, or careless, with careless covering anything that is not deliberate or reckless. If the insurer says an answer was deliberate or reckless, the burden of showing it is on the insurer. Schedule 1 sets the consequences:

  • Deliberate or reckless: the insurer can treat the policy as never having existed and turn down every claim, and it need not give premiums back unless keeping them would be unfair to you.
  • Careless: the outcome follows what the insurer would have done with a true answer. Had it declined you outright, it can treat the policy as void and decline claims but has to repay the premiums. Had it offered other terms, the policy can be treated as written on those terms if the insurer requires. Had it charged a higher premium, it can scale the claim down in proportion.

Our page on what you must disclose covers the wider rules. If you think an answer you gave was wrong, or you want your smoking history set against the questions of the insurers a broker works with, an FCA-authorised broker can explain the options; ask for a free call back through the form on this page. Other questions insurers ask are in our health and underwriting guides, including life insurance without a medical.

Frequently asked questions

Do life insurance companies test for nicotine?

Some do, for some applicants. Legal & General and Aviva both say a smoker test may be asked for, and Royal London's adviser material links its cotinine test to declared non-smokers who are sent for a screening or examination. Whether you are tested depends on the insurer and on your application.

Is the life insurance smoking test done on blood or urine?

Insurers' customer guides mention both as part of medicals: Legal & General lists blood tests, urine tests and a smoker test, and Aviva's mini screening includes a urine test with a possible check on smoker status. Which sample a particular insurer uses for nicotine is a detail the broker can look into once it rings.

Do I have to tell my insurer if I start smoking after the policy begins?

Check your policy terms. Vitality's guide says the terms sometimes require you to disclose that you have started smoking, and that "Failing to do so could mean your policy is invalid."

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