By Anthony Thwaite
Many people in the UK would be willing to lie in order to see their insurance costs reduced.
This is according to new research from Zurich, which showed 33 per cent of survey respondents would not be averse to bending the truth when completing an application form if it meant their premiums might be kept down.
The investigation also revealed individuals are uncomfortable disclosing all relevant information when filling in such documents.
Indeed, 33 per cent of those questioned admitted they would be tempted not to offer up all the necessary data when answering certain questions.
It was demonstrated that people are most willing to lie about their alcohol consumption, weight, medical health and family history when submitting an insurance form – with women more prone to being untruthful than their male counterparts.
Phil Brown, head of protection and underwriting at Zurich UK Life, noted that while the current economic situation makes it understandable that individuals want to keep bills down, “failing to disclose all information at the application stage could have disastrous consequences in the long term when a future claim is rendered invalid”.
