Watchdog tonight

interstellaflyer

BAA1 wrote: »

You are still missing the point, tyre blow outs are not covered by a normal car insurance policy so damage to tyres is not classed as material, but damage to windscreens is covered so is material, and you agreed to T&Cs which state that you must inform the insurance company of all material facts even when no claim is made. It goes to assessment of risk, if you have suffered from chips of the windscreen, then your driving profile makes it more likely that you will have other incidents of windscreen damage and hence possible claims.
(By the way, I would think many people would dispute your idea that windscreens should be classed as consumable)

The fact that the insurance company may not find out about a damaged windscreen does not give a policy holder the right to withold material facts because that is a breach of the contract.

No not missing the point at all, the whole argument is ridiculous, your car body work is also covered by insurance however, do you report every stone chip, scuff to underbody skirting, or that minor scuff on the bumper to the insurance company, of coarse not, you either live with it or pop down to your local motorist store and buy some stuff to repair it or call Chips Away or similar.

Quentin

interstellaflyer wrote: »

the whole argument is ridiculous....

You may consider it "ridiculous", but nevertheless you agree when taking out a policy to inform your insurer of incidents which could cause a loss even if you intend paying yourself. If you enter a contract and breach it then you offer the other side an easy way out of their responsibilities!

(And your suggestion that a windscreen is a "consumable" which will inevitably have to be replaced is as ridiculous as it gets!)

interstellaflyer

Quentin wrote: »

You may consider it "ridiculous", but nevertheless you agree when taking out a policy to inform your insurer of incidents which could cause a loss even if you intend paying yourself. If you enter a contract and breach it then you offer the other side an easy way out of their responsibilities!

(And your suggestion that a windscreen is a "consumable" which will inevitably have to be replaced is as ridiculous as it gets!)

So answer this, Do you report every stone chip you get on your cars' bodywork to your insurance company? afterall, your car bodywork is also covered on your policy.

And widscreens do deteriorate with age, put aside chips and cracks, they get pitted which affects visability, they can also start to delaminate. so if you keep a car long enough you can expect to replace the windscreen at some point in it's life, so ok consumable may not be the right word but the sentiment is not ridiculous.

huckster

interstellaflyer wrote: »

So answer this, Do you report every stone chip you get on your cars' bodywork to your insurance company? afterall, your car bodywork is also covered on your policy.

Is this serious or just a wind up ?

You report anything for which there is a potential cost risk to Insurers. Personally I think that most people would not report replacing a windscreen or repairing a dent at their own cost. As long as no one else was involved in any incident.

loopholer

watchdog programme also got me thinking. So i'm about to pay £10 to find out what information is held about me on the CUE database. Will insurers find out I've accessed my own info on the CUE database and increase my premiums on the basis that I'm probably a higher risk if I'm interested in my CUE file ?

Quentin

You can get tablets for this paranoia!

kingstreet

Just like obtaining a copy of your credit file from a Credit Reference Agency is not recorded, neither is a subject access request to CUE.

pineapple

I am worried about this too, it's not just paranoia.
I just realised after watching this programme that I possibly could have a claim denied because I didn't tell them about a query or a resultant repair albeit years later.
On checking the smallprint in the booklet I am obliged to tell them about any losses incurred during the year - whether a claim was made or not. I realised at that point this would include a ceiling repair following a 1st floor leak and repairs to a boundary wall. Despite not making a claim, it seems this could affect future premiums - if I informed them.
Insurance companies it seems use any means to weasle out of payment. Sad to say the message I got from that programme is don't make any query unless you are pretty sure you have a claim. Nor does it pay to be honest about work done.

loopholer

sent off my FOI request and cheque for a tenner to CUE today. They promise a reply within 40-days, I've contacted my insurers about incidents in the past, but never claimed, it'll be interesting to see what insurers have added what to the CUE data base. Will post my findings on MSE, we can start a new thread to name and shame the companies that record every tiny non-risk related incident or customer query to CUE. You can't be too careful when doing business with financial institutions, they often shaft you whenever possible.

Hastobe_Katt

We stopped taking out contents insurance years ago - we don't have anything worth stealing! We could have replaced the contents of our house several times over with the amount we saved - so even if the whole lot went up in flames tomorrow we'd still be better off.