diff --git a/idunn/utils/ban_check.py b/idunn/utils/ban_check.py
index 799971b0a..7c506fb8c 100644
--- a/idunn/utils/ban_check.py
+++ b/idunn/utils/ban_check.py
@@ -6,13 +6,17 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-if settings["BANCHECK_ENABLED"]:
-    ban_check_http = AsyncClient(
-        base_url=settings["QWANT_API_BASE_URL"],
-        timeout=float(settings["BANCHECK_TIMEOUT"]),
-    )
-else:
-    ban_check_http = None
+
+def get_ban_check_http():
+    if settings["BANCHECK_ENABLED"]:
+        return AsyncClient(
+            base_url=settings["QWANT_API_BASE_URL"],
+            timeout=float(settings["BANCHECK_TIMEOUT"]),
+        )
+    return None
+
+
+ban_check_http = get_ban_check_http()
 
 
 async def check_banned_client(x_client_hash: Optional[str] = Header(None)):
@@ -20,6 +24,7 @@ async def check_banned_client(x_client_hash: Optional[str] = Header(None)):
         return
     if not x_client_hash:
         return
+
     try:
         response = await ban_check_http.get(
             "/v3/captcha/isban", params={"client_hash": x_client_hash}
@@ -28,10 +33,11 @@ async def check_banned_client(x_client_hash: Optional[str] = Header(None)):
         response_data = response.json()
         response_status = response_data.get("status")
         if response_status != "success":
-            raise Exception(f"Got invalid status {repr(response_status)} from ban check")
-        is_client_banned = bool(response_data.get("data"))
-        if is_client_banned:
-            raise HTTPException(status_code=429)
+            raise ValueError(f"Got invalid status {repr(response_status)} from ban check")
     except Exception as err:
         logger.error("Failed to check client is not banned", exc_info=True)
         raise HTTPException(status_code=503) from err
+
+    is_client_banned = bool(response_data.get("data"))
+    if is_client_banned:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=429)
diff --git a/tests/test_instant_answer/test_ia_bancheck.py b/tests/test_instant_answer/test_ia_bancheck.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2b1589d70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_instant_answer/test_ia_bancheck.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import patch
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+from app import app
+from idunn.utils.ban_check import get_ban_check_http
+from tests.utils import override_settings
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def enable_bancheck(httpx_mock):
+    with override_settings(
+        {
+            "BANCHECK_ENABLED": True,
+            "QWANT_API_BASE_URL": "http://qwant-api.test",
+        }
+    ), patch("idunn.utils.ban_check.ban_check_http", new_callable=get_ban_check_http):
+        httpx_mock.get(url__regex=r"http://qwant-api.test/v3/captcha/isban.*").respond(
+            json={"status": "success", "data": True}
+        )
+        yield
+
+
+def test_ia_client_banned(enable_bancheck):
+    client = TestClient(app)
+    response = client.get(
+        "/v1/instant_answer",
+        params={"q": "paris", "lang": "fr"},
+        headers={"x-client-hash": "banned"},
+    )
+    assert response.status_code == 429