Watchdog tonight

jenz

After seeing watchdog tonight I just can't believe contacting an insurance company if you have a problem for advice is classified as a claim!!!!!! I'm now rather worried about my insurance policies as after watching this programme I have done the same thing .

Firstly house insurance we phoned them after we had a burst pipe a couple of years back and and asked them if we couldn't get carpet clean would we be covered.

Secondly re car insurance one of our named drivers claimed for a chipped windscreen also a couple of years back and I never thought to mention this when renewing with another company as it hadn't affected his no claims policy

Should I contact insurance companies and update information or not, problem is am worried about extra cost they may charge!

ses6jwg

Is there a way of accessing the information held about you on this magical central database via a subject access/ freedom of information request?

EDIT:

Yes there is.

Access to Personal Information
If you wish to find out what information is held about you on the CUE database, please print and complete the Subject Access Request Form. This can be sent with the administration fee of £10 to the address below. Cheques or postal orders should be made payable to IDSL. Please note that cash is not acceptable.

If you are unable to access the attached form we are happy to accept written requests as long as they are accompanied by the administration fee and suitable identification. Acceptable forms of identification are:
· Utility Bill
· Local Authority tax bill
· TV License
· Correspondence from HMRC
· Land registry confirmation
· Vehicle registration document
· Student loan statement

As part of your written request please include your date of birth and address information for the past 6 years as well as any former names i.e. maiden name you have been known by in this time.

Requests for personal information held on CUE should be addressed to:
IS & Compliance Officer
Insurance Database Services Limited (IDSL)
Risk & Compliance
Linford Wood House
6 - 12 Capital Drive
Milton Keynes
MK14 6XT

The information contained in the database will comprise that supplied by the policyholder or claimant on their application or claim form, together with other information relating to the incident or claim. It does not hold sensitive information or details relating to the amount of premium paid.

Anyone who thinks that they have registered incidents with only one company can contact that company for their claims information without going through IDSL.

Quentin

jenz wrote: »

After seeing watchdog tonight I just can't believe contacting an insurance company if you have a problem for advice is classified as a claim!!!!!! I'm now rather worried about my insurance policies as after watching this programme I have done the same thing .

Firstly house insurance we phoned them after we had a burst pipe a couple of years back and and asked them if we couldn't get carpet clean would we be covered.

Secondly re car insurance one of our named drivers claimed for a chipped windscreen also a couple of years back and I never thought to mention this when renewing with another company as it hadn't affected his no claims policy

Should I contact insurance companies and update information or not, problem is am worried about extra cost they may charge!

Yes.

You are bound by the ts + cs of your policies to inform your insurers of all incidents which could result in losses as well as claims. (The windscreen repair was a claim!)

catherine12345_2

This shocked me too. I made an "enquiry" a year ago and when I switched insurance companies several months later I rang my new insurance company to ask if I needed to disclose "loss without a claim" as I couldn't work out how to disclose it their online quote form. They told that they weren't interested in losses unless they resulted in a claim being paid and not to bother enterring in any details!!

I assumed all insurance companies did this....obviously not! The person featured on Watchdog had her policy cancelled and was unable to insure her home as a result. Far more scary than an increase in premium.

I think that's what i'd like to know...are you at risk of having a refused policy on your record.

System

People lead busy lives and hence may not remember small incidents, e.g. like a windscreen chip repair that was done 3 or more years ago, especially since the insurers have agreements with the windscreen repair companies so you do not even need to contact your insurance company.
Thus, it should not be unexpected when someone forgets to declare this windscreen chip repair 3 years later when asking for an insurance quote.
The above scenario should not allow an insurance company to cancel insurance due to none disclosure, since the industry log insurable, notifiable events on CUE they have access to all the info they need and hence should have said to the customer at the time of issuing the quote and/or the policy, that the above windscreen repair had been done as per the CUE database record, and hence the premium had been calculated accordingly.
i.e.
The insurance industry have the means to record these events, so they should use the recorded data and not penalise customers if / when they forget to declare these minor events.

If the insurance industry want customers to declare all this minutia, then customers should be given free online access to view their own CUE database record.

dantheman2010

I was just about to post a topic about this.

Last year my bathroom flooded and I thought the kitchen ceiling below may have needed some repair work, so in the first instance I rang the insurance company. I did say to them I wasnt sure what was going to happen and I would let it dry out. In the end I was able to fix it myself and rang them back and said I didnt need to claim and they closed the correspondance.

Now is this something I would need to inform any future insurer?

System

dantheman2010 wrote: »

I was just about to post a topic about this.

Last year my bathroom flooded and I thought the kitchen ceiling below may have needed some repair work, so in the first instance I rang the insurance company. I did say to them I wasnt sure what was going to happen and I would let it dry out. In the end I was able to fix it myself and rang them back and said I didnt need to claim and they closed the correspondance.

Now is this something I would need to inform any future insurer?

Yes you would need to declare this incident for the next 3 to 5 years - the period depends what question is asked on the proposal form for insurance

dantheman2010

Well I just tried to compare some home insurance on moneysupermarket.com and this was the question asked;

Have you made a claim in the last 5 years?

Yes or No

If you select yes you have to put date of claim, what happened, how much it cost etc

Well I didn’t claim, it didn’t cost anything etc. So what on earth would I fill in?

So what would you do?

dunstonh

dantheman2010 wrote: »

Well I just tried to compare some home insurance on moneysupermarket.com and this was the question asked;

Have you made a claim in the last 5 years?

Yes or No

If you select yes you have to put date of claim, what happened, how much it cost etc

Well I didn’t claim, it didn’t cost anything etc. So what on earth would I fill in?

So what would you do?

If it only says "have you made a claim" then you answer exactly what it says - only about claims. If it says "have you made a claim or suffered any loss, accident etc" then you have to declare it.

The key is the question asked. You answer what it says. If it doesnt ask about potential losses whether claimed or not then you dont answer it that way. That is how the ombudsman will look at it

dantheman2010

If I select yes, I have to enter the date and the value of the claim, neither of which exist.

So I guess should I want to take a policy out through moneysupermarket.com and that is what is asked, I have no way of giving the information of the ceiling which didnt need claiming against.

dantheman2010

I have now had a look next to the claim bit and it says;

Tell us of any claims or losses in the last 5 years made by you or any person living with you even if you or they were not insured, did not make a claim, or the claim was turned down

Well they then want you to put in the claim value of £0.01 or more, what would I put in this? I didnt claim as I didnt need to, so I have no idea what the value WOULD have been IF I had needed to claim, as it turned out to be a simple DIY job.