Minor Car Accident

mikey72

Still too extreme for me.

lisyloo

I think everything in post #21 is all possible, but also extreme.

But why on earth take the chance of any one of those things??

JohnG

Tammer wrote: »

Hi guys,

Yes, it was a bit extreme - but really just to illustrate a point.

It's not hugely likely, but would you say the following scenario is impossible?-

>You decide not to inform your insurer.
>In the future, you have a crash and the other person is unfortunately badly injured.
>Your insurer finds out about your current accident from their database and therefore rejects your claim for fraudulent non disclosure.
>You are never able to get insurance in the future as you've "had a claim refused.."
>The police prosecute you for driving without insurance.
>You are sued by the other person for a six figure sum, plus legal costs.

The purpose of taking out insurance is to reduce your 'risk'. Not informing your insurer means you increase your risk and could be wasting money on void insurance.

Hope that helps.

Maybe I'm a bit of a mug but I can't see a minor incident/knock whatever you want to call it being reported by another (liable) party if it's of little or no consequence to them and even out of spite as it is likely to affect them more adversely than the non-liable/guilty party who may of asked for a reasonable nominal compensation amount and even more unlikely if no monies were exchange at all.
I understand there are always possible exceptions but I'm fairly confident that most people have common sense in such situations and seems quite reasonable, to me at least, to look to resolve minor knocks without having to inform the insurers.
As an example, I recall I accidently but gently rolled back into someones car a few years back and my tow bar broke their front number plate, I think I handed over £15 for a replacement in good faith (once they'd got a price) so should I be losing sleep that I'm now (apparently) possibly driving illegally as my insurance might be void?
As I said earlier, I'm sure there are many who would fall into this category but I can't say I've heard of anyone who's come unstuck as a result?

Tammer

JohnG wrote: »

As I said earlier, I'm sure there are many who would fall into this category but I can't say I've heard of anyone who's come unstuck as a result?

Fair enough. I only wanted to help you think through the pros and cons. Although we've not tested it, it may have cost nothing extra, or maybe only a small amount, if the insurer is notified so why wouldn't someone do it?.

You can have a look through this forum for people that have had claims rejected for non disclosure. It's an extreme scenario and there can be defences against it (including presumably legal action against the Telegraph!) but does occasionally happen. Insurers are desperate to reduce their claims liabilities these days.

Cheers.

lisyloo

but I can't say I've heard of anyone who's come unstuck as a result?

There have been cases reported on here where people have had claims rejected and insurance cancelled.
There have also been cases of people being chased by the MIB for 4 figure sums many years later when they weren't expecting it.
You can use the foum search if you want to find these cases.

I'm not saying it happens all the time, but it does happen and I think Tammer is right to point out the downsides (although prison is too extreme).

Although we've not tested it, it may have cost nothing extra, or maybe only a small amount, if the insurer is notified so why wouldn't someone do it?.

For high risk drivers (aka young) it can cost loads so cost is the reason they do it.
I declared a fault accident and it cost me about £20 but I'm 42 and not 19.
The costs vary hugely depending on whether you are a high risk or low risk driver.

Tammer

Thanks Lisyloo. I was definitely wide of the mark with the cost chat. As you say, it only wouldn't cost much only if you're older and it wasn't your fault.

My prison chat was a bit much too I think. However, I'm really nervous about insurance now as I had a claim recently and, while it was paid out in the end, the insurer investigated a number of things including an accident from a few years ago that I didn't think was relevant. I started to read up on what happened to others on this forum and saw:

>people being pursued for MIB claims for thousands (as you said)
>one person had their house burn down and their claim was rejected as they were underinsured - their cover was too little. (although I'm sure they will have got something on appeal but this would take years)
>people who've had their insurance cancelled right when they've been in a dire situation.

Having seen the above, I do try to point out the risks to others as I would hope noone would ever have any of the above scenarios happen to them in future.

Tammer