WARNING - Drinking could seriously damage your wealth

Are you a member of new affluent drinking classes? If you have a successful career and live in one of the wealthier parts of the country, you could be at risk of enjoying your wealth a little too much and boozing to dangerous levels. According to research from Liverpool John Moores University, the richest parts of the country in places such as Surrey, Leeds and Harrogate top the league table as hazardous drinking hotspots.

Hazardous drinking is defined by the university as drinking between 22 and 50 units a week for a man and between 15 and 35 units a week for a woman.

In case you are not sure what a unit is - a large glass of wine (250ml) at 12% alcohol contains three, while a pint of standard strength beer has two.

More people in wealthier parts of the country were found to knocking back the booze at this sort of rate and, for example, in Runnymede in Surrey around a quarter of adults fell into this category.

The biggest risk to your health is chronic liver disease followed by heart disease but drinking too much seriously damages your wealth as well.

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Drinking and driving don't mix

The perils of drinking and driving are well documented. Apart from the fact it could cost you your life or you could kill someone else, get caught drinking and driving will cost you deep in the purse. Get caught with more than 80mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood (as a guide that's a glass of wine or a pint and half of beer) and you'll face an automatic 12-month driving ban, a possible fine of up to £5,000 and / or six months in prison!

If you've got a drink driving conviction, not only do you get punished by the law but you get penalised by motor insurers as well. If you've been banned from driving, your name has to come off the insurance policy and, depending on how long the ban is in effect, when you are looking for cover again your motor insurance will certainly go up or you might find it difficult to get motor cover. Losing your driving licence could even cost you your job if you need to drive for work.

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Drinking can also invalidate your travel insurance policy should you have a mishap while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Something to bear in mind if you plan to go on a skiing holiday and enjoy the apres ski culture!

Premiums get topped up

Having a love of the bottle can also push up the cost of your private medical insurance, life assurance and critical illness insurance. Lenders require you to take out life assurance with your mortgage and if you can't get the cover, you could be turned down for a mortgage.

Insurers will ask you questions about your drinking habits on the application form and if your consumption is too high, they could ask you to go to your doctor for liver function tests. If you are thought to be a risk for certain alcohol-related diseases, this could result in higher premiums or certain conditions being excluded or higher excesses applied. At the worse, your application could be rejected.

Don't be tempted to be economical with the truth on the insurance application forms either because if you are unfortunate enough to contract a disease caused by too much drinking, the insurer could refuse to pay out.

Spokesperson Paul Keeble at Standard Life comments, "If people lie on the form, they will find that if they have to make a claim it could be turned down and often this is when the family needs the money the most."

24 October 2007 © Moneyextra.com

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