If you are applying for a policy that requires an exam, the life insurance company will check for smoking through a urine test and blood test. The byproduct of nicotine, called cotinine, shows up in those tests.
Even if you are applying for a No Exam policy, the insurance company will look on your MIB to see if you have ever been rated a smoker when applying for insurance in the past. And you will be asked on the application whether you have used tobacco in the past year or longer. If you are currently smoking and say you are a nonsmoker, the policy could refuse to pay the claim if you passed within the first two years of obtaining the life insurance policy.
Fully underwritten life insurance requires blood and urine tests for a variety of medical items. Urine analysis can detect smoking behavior by testing for cotinine a byproduct of tobacco in cigarettes. Cigarette smoking can impact your life expectancy, so the life insurance company charges more because your life span is less based on the statistics of smokers.
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Even if you are applying for a No Exam policy, the insurance company will look on your MIB to see if you have ever been rated a smoker when applying for insurance in the past. And you will be asked on the application whether you have used tobacco in the past year or longer. If you are currently smoking and say you are a nonsmoker, the policy could refuse to pay the claim if you passed within the first two years of obtaining the life insurance policy.