Zurich is the third provider to support Iress’ new ex-smoker questions on The Exchange sourcing platform.

By enabling the questions on its Term and Critical Illness products, Zurich promises to deliver greater upfront accuracy to brokers and their clients during the quotation process.

The questions will enable Zurich to differentiate ex-smokers from non-smokers, for more precise premiums that accurately reflect individual risk profiles. This data will complement the enhanced BMI questions already supported by Zurich.

Jacqui Durbin, Iress’s global head of product for sourcing, said: “The new questions demonstrate our commitment to innovation and responding to market needs.

“By harnessing the powerful combination of ex-smoker and BMI data, Zurich is well positioned to deliver greater certainty and transparency to its customers.”

Louise Colley, Zurich’s director of protection, added: “We’re delighted to join the new Iress service and deliver more certainty to advisers and their customers on the price of cover at quote stage.

“With the various smoker statuses used across the market, the approach helps to simplify a potentially complex part of the advice process.”