Insurance Fraud

oldbuffer

I saw Martin Lewis on TV this morning giving advice.
He said, "If you know you are about to be made redundent then insure your car quickly, being unemployed will increase your premium".

Its certainly dishonest and probably illegal. I dont think your claim would be paid if the insurance company found out what you had done.

Strider590

Why? You haven't lied to them and they'll never know, people swap and change jobs all the time. Are you telling me that people lose their jobs and then immediately phone the insurance company to "update their details"?

Do you honestly think that an unemployed person would get money back on their insurance if they phoned up and told them they'd found a job?

harveybobbles

Not only is it bad enough to be made redundant, but the insursnce company would charge you £25 to amand the details anyway.

Car insurance annoys my friend as they are unemployed as they are a Carer for their other half. But on insurance forms they have to put down that they are unemployed. They claim Carers Allowance and Income Support but thatst he only income. But they get penalised for being in the "unemployed" bracket.

If they said on the form that they worked in an office, then their insurance was HALF..!

mikey72

harveybobbles wrote: »

Not only is it bad enough to be made redundant, but the insursnce company would charge you £25 to amand the details anyway.

Car insurance annoys my friend as they are unemployed as they are a Carer for their other half. But on insurance forms they have to put down that they are unemployed. They claim Carers Allowance and Income Support but thatst he only income. But they get penalised for being in the "unemployed" bracket.

If they said on the form that they worked in an office, then their insurance was HALF..!

I put househusband on mine, I wasn't actively looking for a job.

thegirlintheattic

Most insurers T&Cs require you to inform them of any changes. Some, like mine, even list when you have to tell them of the changes - things like change of occupation are meant to be done immediately (on mine).

If your policy states you have to tell them then I can see them not paying out in an accident.

mikey72

I think it would always count as a material fact, even if it's not specifically listed, so it's dubious advice at best.

vaio

I thought the FOS view (and it's certainly logical) is that it's not the punters job to try and guess what an insurance company will regard as a "material fact" so insurers need to ask about anything they consider to be one.

They are insurance professionals, I'm a bumbling amateur, they know their underwriting criteria, (but as they are secret they won't tell me) so it's ridiculous to expect me to guess.

mikey72

vaio wrote: »

I thought the FOS view (and it's certainly logical) is that it's not the punters job to try and guess what an insurance company will regard as a "material fact" so insurers need to ask about anything they consider to be one.

They are insurance professionals, I'm a bumbling amateur, they know their underwriting criteria, (but as they are secret they won't tell me) so it's ridiculous to expect me to guess.

I would normally agree with you, and I certainly would be having the same arguement, but it's a lot of hassle, and several months potentially until they pay out.

rs65

oldbuffer wrote: »

Its certainly dishonest and probably illegal. I dont think your claim would be paid if the insurance company found out what you had done.

Very poor advice from Martin.

My policy says to advise immediately of any changes to info given when taking the policy out. His advice could lead to a claim being turned down.

BlueFox

A change of occupation IS considered a material fact by all insurer's. If you were a shop assistant and were "spotted" by Simon Cowell and became the "next big thing" :eek:, so were suddenly in showbiz then you would be a very high risk to insurance companies and make no mistake, if you failed to notify them the policy would be null and voided with immediate effect and the most they would deal with would be a claim from an innocent third party (if you happened to cause such damage!).

It was a silly thing to say to the nation and one which should rightly be corrected in my view.

mikey72

Not having seen Martin Lewis on tv, I can't comment on his advice. Personally, for me, doing as is quoted would be poor. My insurer speciifically states I must update - the name, gender, licence details, occupation, part-time occupation, period of residency in the UK and date of birth of you and any other named driver. There is also a reasonably worded catch all. - You must also have truthfully agreed to all statements that we listed in the terms and conditions relating to your policy when it started. You must also advise us as soon as possible of all changes to this information; Now obviously the correct answer to occupation is requested during the quote stage is in the t&c's, so it would seem fair they expect this to be updated. A mid term change is far more expensive than shopping around at the start, so I would actually hold off, and try to get a quote as unemployed from inception if I could.