Have I unknowingly committed insurance fraud?

Nursey_nurse

I have just claimed for an apple lap top I spilled wine on.the claims handler phoned today to go over the details,he asked me about previous claims I told him I had two one for £90 for a leaky pipe and one for around£450 for storm damage to a roof.he then asked me about a claim I had for another laptop which my husband dropped ,I thought this happened more than five years ago but he told me it was 2008! I am now worried that they can charge me with insurance fraud for this innocent mistake. I am aware that not disclosing previous claims can invalidate your insurance so I would never knowingly do so.

Quentin

Just contact the handler back and explain your mistake. They obviously know about this claim, so you have nothing to lose by coming clean. (Or does this mean you never declared this other laptop claim when you took out the policy? This may cause raised eyebrows!)

Nursey_nurse

Thanks Quentin
I didn't mention the first laptop when I took the policy out as I thought it was over 5 years ago!! I will give them a call at this point I don't care if they don't pay out as long as I have not broken the law!!

*Scarlett

Depending on when the other 2 claims were, you may find that this could cause issues. Some underwriters have a threshold of 2 or 3 claims within the last 3 - 5 years and if your insurer allows the lower thresholds, the 2008 claim for the laptop might have meant that they would not have accepted to cover you if it had been declared. Or the premium may have been higher.

As this will now be 4 claims within the last 5 years (even if they don't pay out for the apple laptop it still is registered as a claim / loss) you may find youself restricted on who will quote for you next year.

It is easy to forget exact dates of claims but it is your responsiblity to disclose any information that the insurer asks you for when taking the policy out.

Hopefully they will understand a genuine mistake and won't void the entire policy.

Good luck.

Nursey_nurse

Thanks Scarlett
Does it still count as 4 claims although 2 were through buildings rather than contents insurance?

dunstonh

I didn't mention the first laptop when I took the policy out as I thought it was over 5 years ago!!

Inadvertent non-disclosure happens and the FOS has some rules in place to cover it. However, you have to make sure it is classed as inadvertent rather than intentional. That is often a matter of opinion based on timescales. e.g. forgetting something of 5 years ago will often be inadvertent (unless its a major event) whereas something a year ago is less likely.

There is the other issue that scarlett mentions that if they would not have offered cover at the start had they known the facts, they can void the policy, return the premiums to you and you then have a lifetime of having to declare a policy being voided due to non-disclosure. if they would offer cover then you will have your claim reduced by the increased premiums you should have paid from the start had the facts been known (assuming you would have cost more - not necessarily the case).

*Scarlett

If you have separate policies for your buildings and contents, it would be 2 claims on each which may increase future premiums on each policy but as these are not for huge amounts it should not stop you from getting a normal quote.

If you are looking to get a combined policy it would register as 4 claims.

So when you are due to renew again it might be worth looking at separate policies. There are some disadvantages to having them separately eg many companies charge less for a combined policy or if something happened that you had to claim on both you have to deal with 2 underwriters. Also some companies only charge 1 excess for a claim on B&C but many charge an excess on both.

You can try some online quotes (you don't have to put your real contact details, just the correct postcode and property details, your approx date of birth, occupation, etc). Look at combined quotes with the 4 claims and you can do separate quotes declaring 2 on each.

Sometimes circumstances make it a better option to have separate policies eg a property with a history of subsidence will be more difficult to insure the building but you can still shop around for the contents insurance without too much difficulty.

If if does transpire that your current insurance is voided or cancelled make sure you read any assumption questions carefully - insurance companies will usually ask if you have ever had a policy declined or restricted and if this is the case you would need to ring to clarify.

I do hope you can get this sorted without too much difficulty.