lied to insurance and they have withdrew indemnity

pbbanks

I was involved in a minor bump. I was not paying attention and bumped in to the back of a car infront of me, bare in mind that this was during rush hour, start stop traffic, so i was not going fast at all. After the we had both pulled over the other driver got out and assessed the damage to his vehicle (of which there was minimal, maybe a scratch or two),. He said not to worry about damages. We then both went our seperate ways and that was the last I heard of it until my insurance contacted me saying there had been a claim against my name, relating to the incident above. I should let you know at this point that my area is a fraudulent claim hotsopot. Me being an idiot and being very !!!!ed off with the other driver for trying what was obvious to me to be a fraudulent whiplash claim , when they asked me about the incident i denied it. I made up a lie explaining that i had been elsewhere at the time of the incident, and that my car had been parked up somewhere.
fastforward 8 months and my insurance providers have accused me of lnsurance fraud and have withdrawn indemnity. They are in the process of settling with the 3rd party (the other driver) and say they will be looking to me to reimburse them for any settlements made.

Has anyone been in any situation like this? what are my options? I feel that whether i lied or not the money my insurance have to pay would have been the same, also i paid my insurance for a reason. i expect to be covered. Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks in advance

worried_jim

pbbanks wrote: »

I was involved in a minor bump. I was not paying attention and bumped in to the back of a car infront of me, bare in mind that this was during rush hour, start stop traffic, so i was not going fast at all. After the we had both pulled over the other driver got out and assessed the damage to his vehicle (of which there was minimal, maybe a scratch or two),. He said not to worry about damages. We then both went our seperate ways and that was the last I heard of it until my insurance contacted me saying there had been a claim against my name, relating to the incident above. I should let you know at this point that my area is a fraudulent claim hotsopot. Me being an idiot and being very !!!!ed off with the other driver for trying what was obvious to me to be a fraudulent whiplash claim , when they asked me about the incident i denied it. I made up a lie explaining that i had been elsewhere at the time of the incident, and that my car had been parked up somewhere.
fastforward 8 months and my insurance providers have accused me of lnsurance fraud and have withdrawn indemnity. They are in the process of settling with the 3rd party (the other driver) and say they will be looking to me to reimburse them for any settlements made.

Has anyone been in any situation like this? what are my options? I feel that whether i lied or not the money my insurance have to pay would have been the same, also i paid my insurance for a reason. i expect to be covered. Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks in advance

Crikey! What a situation. Have you called to speak to them to see if there are any options?

rs65

pbbanks wrote: »

I feel that whether i lied or not the money my insurance have to pay would have been the same

At the very least costs may have increased over the 8 plus months.

You expect to be covered and they expect to be notified of any potential claims and be given assistance when claims occur.

agrinnall

I'm quite surprised they haven't reported you to the police; if they do then future insurance cover may be the least of your worries.

horseymchorseface

expensive lesson I guess, having a cancelled insurance you now have to declare will make things more difficult. In addition you maybe flagged up for insurance fraud and be unable to get insurance for a long time.

Good luck

Placitasgirl

But the money your insurer would have to pay won't be the same.... you lied to them, they have refused to cover you so you will be liable for all of the costs relating to claim against you. Therefore you, and not your insurer pays, and you learn a very expensive lesson.

As for expecting to be covered, your insurer was expecting you to abide by the terms and conditions of your insurance, which would have been to notify them of the accident when it occurred and to be honest and truthful and make full disclosure when providing information, notifying the of any accidents or claims, and answering their questions.

Finally you you say you paid your insurance for a reason. Again for your insurance to be valid you must abide by its terms and conditions. You didn't so you might as well have put your money in a pile in the middle of the floor and set fire to it. You lied, you got caught and now you must man up and face the consequences.

And don't be tempted to lie at any time in the future about this.... you will have to admit to having had insurance cancelled and to the claim of insurance fraud every time you seek any type of insurance (home, travel etc) for years to come.

ThinkingOutLoud_2

This is going to be an expensive lesson in honesty for you.

It is strange how you want your insurer to be "honest" and pay up; but you see no reasons why there should be consequences for your own dishonesty. Reality won't work how you'd like it.

I note that your initial intention not reporting was not intentionally fraudulent, just misguided. But, the hole you have then dug yourself was madness as you can probably see. As noted, fraud is not just a "good wheeze if you can get away with it" - it is illegal - so feel lucky if the sole outcome is no car and being uninsurable for a long time.

And the questions you will be asked in future when buying say life insurance or other types will ask about this too. The same honest answer is needed regardless of the fact this behaviour related to a motor insurance policy.

FirstTimer4Me

pbbanks wrote: »

what was obvious to me to be a fraudulent whiplash claim

It wasn't your decision whether this was a fraudulent claim, based on your truthful version of events to your insurance company, it's their decision whether to pursue a fraudulent claim or not.

Dishonesty to save of future premium increases, may well cost you heavily in the future not only financially.

huckster

In your situation, it depends on how far you went making up a story and then admitting to this.

You could just say that it was such a minor knock without any damage to either car, that you were a bit confused by this third party claim and annoyed by it.

If i were in this position, i think i would be writing to the CEO of the Insurance company explaining what had happened and that their claims department were taking a disproportionate stance in dealing with it. That your instincts were that you had not been in any accident that warranted any claim by either yourself or the third party. That you were confused by being contacted about it 8 months later. Ask them to reconsider whether the mistake justifies the actions and consequences that will follow.