Life insurance applications ask about your alcohol consumption: how much you drink in an average week, whether anyone has advised you to cut down, and on some forms whether you have had treatment or support. What happens next depends on the insurer and on the rest of your answers.

Your own answers can be looked over by an FCA-authorised broker who phones once you submit the form on this page, and nothing is charged for it.

Below are the questions as insurers print them, what their underwriting guides say about the outcome, and what applies if you are in recovery.

If drinking is something you are worried about, the NHS says: "A good place to start is with a GP." It describes Drinkline as "the national alcohol helpline", free and confidential: "Call 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am to 8pm, weekends 11am to 4pm)."

What do insurers' application forms ask about drinking?

The two forms quoted here were printed for advisers to complete with clients, and the wording on any form you are given may differ.

Aviva's personal protection application (AL55001 08/2026) asks "How much alcohol do you drink in an average week?" The applicant enters numbers of pints of ordinary-strength and stronger beer, lager or cider, glasses of wine, and spirit measures or bottles of alcopops, or ticks that they do not drink. The form explains that Aviva needs accurate information about drinking, and about any advice to reduce it, because it is an important factor in assessing terms and paying claims.

Legal & General's (L&G) OLP Connect application for business protection (W13430 03/26) asks "How often do you drink alcohol?", from daily to never, then how many drinks on a typical day or in a typical week. That form is for cover a business buys, and it says it does not always match the questions in L&G's interactive application, so it shows that form's wording only, not what L&G asks someone applying for personal cover.

Aviva's form sets these beside questions on smoking and drugs, covered in smoking and vaping and cannabis and other drugs. The wider set is in medical questions for life insurance.

How do units of alcohol come into it?

The NHS (alcohol units page, reviewed 27 August 2024) advises "not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis", spread over 3 or more days for anyone drinking that much. A unit is 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol, and because the number in a drink depends on size and strength, a pint of strong lager is 3 units and the same volume of lower-strength lager just over 2.

L&G's Underwriting explained leaflet (W10188 09/25) cites the same government guideline of 14 units, and says drinking above it, now or in the past, can have a significant effect on body, lifestyle or mental health. Its business-protection form (W13430) uses the figure too: one answer to a question about advice to cut down is that it was general advice and you were drinking within 14 units a week (7 alcoholic drinks) or less.

One adviser document sets a different threshold for one product. Aviva's Simple Life Insurance: Underwriting questions - answered (PT23062 12/2025), "For financial adviser use only", lists five qualifying questions and says a yes to any means a client is "not eligible to apply". One is "Do you drink more than 35 units of alcohol per week (if male) or 28 units of alcohol per week (if female), or have you received advice to reduce your alcohol consumption?" That is Simple Life's entry question, not a limit on Aviva's other cover.

What do the underwriting guides say about the outcome?

Aviva's Understanding Underwriting guide (PT15357 0926), another adviser document, says "moderate social drinking will not affect premiums". On heavier drinking it makes three statements about life, critical illness and income protection cover. Above a moderate amount, it will "either increase the premium or request a GP report" to check for alcohol-related illness. With a history of alcohol dependence it "may offer terms, but only after a period of complete abstinence". Where alcohol is affecting health or is linked to other medical conditions or concerns, it says it is unlikely to be able to offer cover. The guide does not say what moderate means in units.

Evidence beyond the form varies by insurer. Aviva's application lists, among what a GP's medical report contains where applicable, conditions related to drug or alcohol misuse or smoking, and says it asks every customer to consent to that request under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. L&G's adviser page on lifestyle (undated on the page) says it might request a nurses examination including liver and kidney function blood tests. Royal London's adviser site says that in limited situations, for example where there has been a history of excess alcohol consumption, "we may ask for a liver function test".

These describe an approach, not what any one person will be offered, and another insurer may read the same answers differently. Several insurers can be sounded out on your answers by the broker who calls after the form on this page.

What if you have been advised to cut down or had treatment?

Forms ask about advice and support separately from quantity. Aviva asks: "Have you ever attended, or been advised to attend, a support service or had therapy, treatment or counselling with the aim of reducing your alcohol intake?" and, separately, whether a doctor or other health or social worker has "been concerned about your drinking or suggested that you cut down". For a yes it wants the details, including when advice, treatment or support was last given. Advice to reduce drinking "because of pregnancy only" is excluded.

L&G's business-protection form (W13430) asks whether you have ever used an alcohol counsellor or service (including phone and online ones), or been referred to an alcohol specialist or support group, and whether a health professional has told you to reduce your drinking because you were drinking too much. It then asks whether that happened more than once, whether it was "before you were aged 25", and whether it was linked to pregnancy, to medication, or to general advice.

Royal London's adviser medical conditions tool (undated), under its entry for alcohol abuse and dependence, lists what would help on an application: past and present levels of consumption, any treatment, admissions to a hospital or treatment centre, and any associated health problems. It also lists "If abstinent, the date alcohol was last consumed".

For related questions, see life insurance with medical conditions and life insurance and mental health.

Can you get life insurance in recovery?

You can apply, and each insurer decides on its own terms. Where there is a history of alcohol dependence, Aviva's guide (quoted above) links any offer of terms to a period of complete abstinence, and it gives no length for that period. How long it would need to be in your case, and what counts towards it, are questions for the insurer or a broker.

The forms show what insurers ask about recovery: when advice, treatment or support was last given (Aviva), whether you have used an alcohol service or support group (L&G's business-protection form), and the date alcohol was last consumed (Royal London).

The NHS calls realising you have a problem with alcohol "the first big step to getting help". It also says that for someone who has become physically dependent and needs to stop completely, "stopping overnight could be harmful", and that they should get advice, including about any medicine needed to stop safely. An insurance application does not change that.

A decline or postponement is one insurer's decision on one application. What to do if you are declined covers next steps, guaranteed life insurance asks no health questions but has trade-offs, and life insurance without a medical explains that route.

Does it matter if you round your drinking down?

Yes. Aviva's form says answers must be full, truthful and accurate, and that failing to do so may amend or cancel the policy, reduce a payout, or result in "non-payment of a claim". L&G's business-protection form warns that an answer that is not full and accurate will very likely mean a claim may not be paid. The law is explained in when an insurer can refuse to pay, and the practical side in what you must disclose.

Frequently asked questions

How many units a week is too many for life insurance?

The NHS advises no more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, and Aviva's guide says only that moderate social drinking will not affect premiums, without a unit figure. The one insurer unit threshold quoted on this page is Aviva's Simple Life entry question: 35 units for men and 28 for women, for that product only.

Do life insurance medicals test for alcohol?

L&G and Royal London say, in the adviser pages quoted above, that they might ask for liver function blood tests. The insurer's own request states which tests apply.

Does being told to cut down affect an application?

It can. Advice to reduce your drinking is part of the question that rules an applicant out of Aviva's Simple Life Insurance. Aviva's full application wants to know who advised you, when and why, and L&G's business-protection form sets general advice at or under 14 units a week apart from other reasons.

Can you get life insurance after alcohol treatment?

You can apply. Expect to be asked when treatment or support was last given, and possibly the date you last drank; what Aviva's guide says about terms after dependence is in the recovery section above.

The form on this page is there whenever you want to talk your history over with an FCA-authorised broker about how this may be read; no fee applies. More questions of this kind are in health and underwriting.

Sources

  • Aviva, Personal protection application (AL55001 08/2026), adviser document, read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
  • Aviva, Understanding Underwriting (PT15357 0926), adviser document, read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
  • Aviva, Simple Life Insurance: Underwriting questions - answered (PT23062 12/2025), adviser literature, read 20 October 2026. static.aviva.io
  • Legal & General, Underwriting explained (W10188 09/25), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, OLP Connect application form, business protection (W13430 03/26), adviser form, read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, BMI limits and lifestyle, adviser page (undated; page metadata gives 14 July 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Royal London, Medical conditions tool and Types of evidence, adviser site (undated), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
  • NHS, Alcohol units (reviewed 27 August 2024) and Alcohol support (reviewed 17 August 2026), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk