telling insurers about an accident that wasnt your fault

Luciem

Can anyone help?

Last year someone drove into the back me causing minor damage to the car. we claimed on the insurance to get it fixed as it was completely their fault ( i was stopped for a start.). It was my partner's car and was sorted through his (which i'm named as a driver on) and her insurance.

Its now time for me to renew my insurance so looking round properly for quotes. Do i need to declare the accident on my insurance? if i do it shunts the costs up dramatically.

Thank you

McKneff

You do have to mention it, unfortunately.
Insurances use a national data base and further down the line if you have to make a claim and they find that you have not disclosed something material, your claim will be turned down. Expensive if your claim involves personal injury as well as damage to a third party.

username9876

Declare the accident. It will come back to haunt you one day if you don't. Have a look at SWIFTCOVER if you're worried about cost.

Luciem

thank you both.

gethro

I had the same problem,some one went up the back of me last April.(2009)
It was totally their fault and their insurance company paid for everything,but that didn't stop my next quote rising by approx £50 so i went on one of the price comparison website and got it £50 cheaper ( swiftcover).
This year it went up again by £50 so i did another search and got it £30 cheaper with LV .As someone else said you have to tell them even though it wasn't your fault but shop around and you can still save money.

Ldoggyg

I had a minor bump last month. I was parked in a petrol station when this other guy reversed into the side of my car (1981 BMW 635 CSi) and put a dent in rear panel and driver door. He didn't want to go through his insurance so I got it repaired and told him how much it would be (£360). He agreed to pay up but now his phone is no longer working! I have address (in Kent or I would go round there) and his registration but don't know what to do. Any help please?:mad:

oscarward

McKneff wrote: »

Insurances use a national data base and further down the line if you have to make a claim and they find that you have not disclosed something material, your claim will be turned down.

Just out of curiosity, why don't insurers check the database when quoting and accepting insurance rather than wait for a claim and avoiding the policy or refusing the claim?

The reason for not declaring may be totally innocent after all and if the insurer nudges your elbow at least they can quote the correct premium.

lisyloo

Just out of curiosity, why don't insurers check the database when quoting and accepting insurance rather than wait for a claim and avoiding the policy or refusing the claim?

A lot more work for them to check everyone rather than just for the small proportion of people that have a claim.
Besides I don't believe there is a universal database. There may be some companies that share information but I don't think there is anything for all UK companies, so I don't think there is anyway for them to defeinitely find out.
The risk for policyholders is that they MAY find out if it's a company within the same group that shares information.

The reason for not declaring may be totally innocent after all

The question "have you had any accidents in the last 3 years" is relatively simple and does not require a long memory.

There are really very few innocent explanations for getting the question wrong.

If they were asking about your family medical history then that is an example where you might not know the answer and there are industry guidelines for dealine with "inadvertant" nondisclosure.
However you should know whether you've had a car accident or not.

If you don't understand the question (and there are one or two subtleties) then you shouldn't be doing your insurance DIY, you should be utilising a broker who can explain things in laymans terms.
You can also ring the insurer and ask as well, but this relies on you recognising the issues and knowing which questions to ask.

lisyloo

if i do it shunts the costs up dramatically

Are you definitely putting this down as a "non-fault" claim.
My experience is that there is a small increase (someone else mentioned £50).
I am suprised that there is a dramatic increase for a non-fault claim.
Check the options as insurer do take not of what type of claim it was, whether there were injuries and sometimes the cost as well.

If your insurer doesn't take account of these factors then you might be well advised to try others who take into account the fact that this wasn't your fault.