Do we need to declare 'non-claim' accident when arranging insurance?

MoodyBlue_2

Hi all

I'm looking for some help with my son's car insurance.

He's 20 and has a couple of years no claims already, but unfortunately he hit some black ice (as did 2 others at exactly the same spot) last week and damaged the car to the point where we are told that it is a write-off.

The car is worth maybe 2.5k, but... if he claims his insurance premiums will rocket from £700 to £2000 next year, based on the same car, and will obviously take a good while after to return to their current levels.

He did inform the insurance company that he had been in an accident (as per the law) but as yet he hasn't claimed.

He's prepared to effectively write off his claim against the car in order to retain his no claims bonus.... expensive but either way he will be at least 2k out of pocket.

So, it hit me last night that quotation sites ask 'Have you had any claims or accidents in the last 5 years?'

If he needs to declare this incident and no doubt be quoted increased premiums then we may as well claim on the insurance, but just want to be sure on where we stand legally here... obviously he needs to be sure that his new policy on a new car would be valid. If he hasn't claimed and has accepted the loss personally (no-one else involved) then do we have to inform them?

I suspect I know the answer already but any guidance / experience here would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance
MB

rudekid48

Yes he does. He must always answer questions accurately. There will also now be a record of the incident (claim or not) and so it would be foolish not to disclose it. It will not affect his no claims bonus if he doesn't claim and so although it will probably mean an increase in premiums the amount of the increase will be significantly less than losing his NCB.

Sea_Shell

If it's been reported, it's in the system now and will be flagged if new info doesn't match.

I even got flagged, for putting non-fault for an accident I'd had (and recovered my excess on), when in fact the insurers hadn't finalised it all their end and the system still had it showing as fault. All resolved with a couple of phone calls.

garth549

Not sure if it's still the case but Aviva used to only ask specifically about claims that weren't recovered in full from the third party in the last 4 years. So you basically didn't need to declare anything that wasn't claimed against your own policy.

QuagaarWarrior

You have a duty to disclose any facts to an insurer that they would find of interest when providing you with a quote. This includes things they did not specifically request.
Personally I would disclose it because:
- Your own peace of mind
- Leaving grey areas when entering into a contract is not a great idea for either party involved

dunstonh

Read the question and answer as it is asked. Dont try and put a different interpretation on it. Questions from different insurers may be asked in different ways.

Aretnap

QuagaarWarrior wrote: »

You have a duty to disclose any facts to an insurer that they would find of interest when providing you with a quote. This includes things they did not specifically request.

This is not true. The notion that insurance is a contract of "utmost good faith" was formally abolished,at least as far as consumer contracts go, by the Consumer Insurance Act 2012, and in practice it had become largely obsolete well before then. A consumer is now only required to answer the questions posed accurately.- they have no obligation to volunteer information that the insurer doesn't ask about.

However the question is somewhat academic as virtually all car insurers do ask about any and all accidents, and the OP'S son has clearly had an accident, so in practice he will have to declare this for the next 3-5 years.

[Deleted User]

Aretnap wrote: »

This is not true. The notion that insurance is a contract of "utmost good faith" was formally abolished,at least as far as consumer contracts go, by the Consumer Insurance Act 2012, and in practice it had become largely obsolete well before then. A consumer is now only required to answer the questions posed accurately.- they have no obligation to volunteer information that the insurer doesn't ask about.

However the question is somewhat academic as virtually all car insurers do ask about any and all accidents, and the OP'S son has clearly had an accident, so in practice he will have to declare this for the next 3-5 years.

So, an accident not involving anyone else and no witnesses, where no claim is made: does anyone actually declare this type of stuff?

Quentin

johnsmith1890 wrote: »

So, an accident not involving anyone else and no witnesses, where no claim is made: does anyone actually declare this type of stuff?

If you read the OP, you will get the answer to your question!

[Deleted User]

Quentin wrote: »

If you read the OP, you will get the answer to your question!

So we have a count of one so far, but let me clarify the 'no claim' element. Swap that for 'no intention of making a claim'. A while ago some scroat left a dint in my driver's door. I don't know who, where or when, and I'm not going to claim. Surely no right-minded person would report such an incident - would they?

Sea_Shell

Where is the line between wear and tear and a notifiable incident?? eg small dent/scratch??