Life Insurance Case study 6
life assurance – incorrect height and weight given – deliberate non-disclosure
When Mr K took out life assurance, he stated that he was 6 feet tall and weighed 16 stone. Following his death from a blood clot at the age of 37, just five months after taking out the policy, the insurer discovered that Mr K's actual height was 5'9" and his weight was over 21 stone. Mr K had also failed to inform the insurer about his kidney stone and gout. The insurer said that if it had known the full facts, it would have loaded the premium by 275%. It considered that his answers amounted to either reckless or deliberate non-disclosure and it avoided the policy.
complaint rejected
We had no reason to suppose that Mr K had not understood the form he was completing. We noted that, in response to clear questions about his health, he had failed to provide relevant information. As far as the information about his height and weight was concerned, the evidence suggested that he was aware that he was obese. We established that his weight had been recorded as 25 stone in May 1999, 24 stone in September 1999 and 21.2 stone at the post-mortem, less than five months after he had stated on the form that his weight was 16 stone.
We were satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that at the time Mr K signed the application form he could not have believed his weight was only 16 stone. Nor could he have believed he was 6 feet tall. The disparity between his actual weight and height and the information he gave on the form was so great that it was difficult to accept that he had been unaware of it. We decided that the insurer was entitled to avoid the policy on the grounds that Mr K's non-disclosure had been deliberate.