Car insurance claim against me was rejected, do I have to disclose ?

Cheesethief85

Hi all,

Back in Dec 2014 I was involved in an incident where I gently bumped the car in front going 10mph in heavy traffic after they sped up and stopped suddenly.
There was no damage to either car as verified by photos that I took yet the other party claimed for a written off car (dismissed by specialist damage experts sent by my insurer).

They also claimed for the driver plus 4 passengers to have compensation for bizarre injuries! (Only 2 occupants were in the car so 3 were made up).

Anyway after 18 months my insurance company rejected their claim as they couldn't provide ambulance receipts (probably because no ambulances attended) plus their evidence was often contradictory and their stories kept changing so the case was closed and suspected as fraudulent.

I stayed with that insurance company until now (they were brilliant given the complexity of the case) and I received a partial refund on my 2015 premium when the case was closed in June 2015. My insurance is due to renew in December and before that incident I shopped around every year as it was always cheaper than the renewal quote.

My question is do I still have to disclose that incident if I go elsewhere to look for insurance or does the fact that it was rejected and case closed prove my "innocence" as such?

If I call my insurer I have the feeling they will just be vague about it. Obviously I want to what is right and legal!

Many thanks for your input :cool:

wongataa

You will have to disclose that you were involved in an incident but you just state that it did not affect your no claim bonus etc.

Cheesethief85

I just called them and a lovely lady was very helpful. I didn't think they would give out the info but they did.

She said that it is still technically a "non-fault incident claim" that will indeed be held on the shared database for 3 years (so not wiped off it until December 2017). It does affect my premium slightly but very significantly.

She said pay attention to the wording when renewing as they may ask for FAULT incidents in the past 3 years (which I don't have so I can answer no) or they may just generally ask for ANY incidents at all - which I would have to answer yes to.

She mentioned that comparison websites will ask stricter questions as the quote goes out to more underwriters so I may be better off going straight to individual websites or even ringing them.

And on the proof of no claims issue; I have my no claims protected so it's not affected.

Guest101

Im confused why your insurers wanted 'ambulance receipts'?!


!!!!!! is an ambulance receipt when it's at home?

neilmcl

Guest101 wrote: »

Im confused why your insurers wanted 'ambulance receipts'?!


!!!!!! is an ambulance receipt when it's at home?

It's quite common for ambulance authorities to invoice insurance companies after an RTA. Presumably this is what the OP was referring to.

Guest101

neilmcl wrote: »

It's quite common for ambulance authorities to invoice insurance companies after an RTA. Presumably this is what the OP was referring to.

Sure but this is something they were asking the 'victim' to provide.

interstellaflyer

neilmcl wrote: »

It's quite common for ambulance authorities to invoice insurance companies after an RTA. Presumably this is what the OP was referring to.

Yep, many years ago I hit a drunk that stepped out from behind a parked van, fortunately no injuries to him or damage to the car, thinking I was doing the right thing, I took him to A&E just to be safe, reported the incident to police and insurance company etc, I relieved an invoice from A&E for a nominal amount £12 IIRC, passed it on to my insurers, nothing else happened as no claim was made in the end.

Cheesethief85

As far as I know the ambulance receipt is still a throwback to when the NHS was first formed (when there weren't many cars on the road)
RTA ambulance receipts are issued so the NHS can claim back costs from insurers.

I have to say again that my insurer Sheila's Wheels were brilliant and very thorough checking every small detail of the claim(s) for discrepancies including background checks on all the so called "passengers" and also calling their work places plus browsing their social media accounts too.

Get a dash camera in your car to avoid situations like mine! Lesson learnt for me.

Ganga

Why not stay with your current insurance company for one more year then come Dec 2017 you need not disclose it and shop around for a better deal.

ratrace

Cheesethief85 wrote: »

As far as I know the ambulance receipt is still a throwback to when the NHS was first formed (when there weren't many cars on the road)
RTA ambulance receipts are issued so the NHS can claim back costs from insurers.

I have to say again that my insurer Sheila's Wheels were brilliant and very thorough checking every small detail of the claim(s) for discrepancies including background checks on all the so called "passengers" and also calling their work places plus browsing their social media accounts too.

Get a dash camera in your car to avoid situations like mine! Lesson learnt for me.

ok DM we believe you