Is this legal?

carl310166

I am asking this question on behalf of a workmate (honest!)

His car insurance is up for renewal,so using the tips for this site,i have been trying to help him reduce his premium.

At the moment he has chosen to insure any driver over 25 years old on his policy,i suggested he might like to just insure himself or insure named drivers only.The problem is,one of the persons who drives his car now and again,has had a conviction for drink driving,obviously he has served his ban.

We checked the t&c's of his policy,and it said that you have to declare any convictions etc from any driver.

Now,we can understand that if you are a named driver,you would HAVE to declare such details,but if it's ANY named driver,are you supposed to ask if they have any convictions before letting them drive?

And if it's your responsability to ask,what if they don't tell the truth?

Could anybody shine any light on this?

Thanks in advance

wolftastic_2

It is an implied condition in all contracts of Insurance that the proposer shall make full and complete disclosure to the insurer of all material facts. If he conceals anything that he knows to be a material fact e.g. a drink driving conviction, this is fraud.

In addition, he must disclose all material facts he ought to have known in the oridinary course of his business, or by making reasonable enquiries, he cannot escape the consequences of failing to disclose such facts on the grounds that he did not know them or that he did not appreciate that they were material.

If he fails to disclose then the contract of insurance is voidable at the option of the insurer.

A material fact is a fact that would influence the mind of a prudent insurer in deciding on whether to accept a risk and on what terms.

So you are clearly responsible to delcare any previous convictions other than those classed as spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.