Didn't notify insurer of an incident

dcouponzzzz

Hi All,

So I know a lot of post start with 'asking for a friend', but in this case it's my partner's brother.

About 2 weeks ago, he rolled backwards slowly at some lights and in to the car behind. They exchanged numbers, both agreed to settle out of insurance for the extremely minor damage, no witnesses consulted, then after she spoke with her partner that evening she decided to claim (the usual story).

On the night of the incident OH's brother txt the other party apologising.

Fast forward to today, and OH's brother now has received an email from his insurer, who he didn't notify, to contact them and clarify the details, and ensure he's not 'in breach of their general terms and conditions' regarding lack of communication.

Now I know... he 100% f'd up, and he is in breach of their terms and conditions. I've warned him this might end in his insurance being cancelled, and him being personally liable for any repair costs, and (false) injury claims.

Despite knowing the impact and his guilt, I'm posting here to ask if there is any way at all that he can mitigate most the impact of his mistake? I do not condone what he did, but if there's a way he can resolve this without losing insurance and having to sell the car to pay for damages, I'd really appreciate any help at all.

Thanks,

Zorillo

Tell them that he fully intended to report it but hadn't found a convenient time to do so yet, and hope for the best.

csgohan4

As with these kind of posts, never settle privately with strangers, because you cannot control what the other party may do and indeed may ask for more or take the money and still report it anyways

Safer to report it anyways as your contractually obliged to , at least there is no come back on damages or blame.

garth549

It's very unlikely they will cancel the policy for this. That is unless the non-notification is going to cause a lot of problems and result in a larger payout to them. Legally they have to pay out to the third party regardless.


In theory they could possibly pursue any additional costs they've directly incurred due to the policyholder not notifying their insurer in accordance with the T&Cs. This is again, very unlikely though and will likely be 0 anyway.

[Deleted User]

Zorillo wrote: »

Tell them that he fully intended to report it but hadn't found a convenient time to do so yet, and hope for the best.

I wouldn't recommend lying to them. It's going to sound pretty ridiculous that two weeks later he still hadn't found the time.

Just be honest, admit the mistake and hope for the best.

kelevraz

Speak to them, and hope they haven't paid anything out yet, because thats the real problem

The reason they're annoyed and kicking up a fuss isn't really because he didn't notify them. It's because if he doesn't give them any information then they cant try and defend the claim in any sort of way. It could end up costing them more than it needs to.

Unlikely they'll cancel his policy or make him liable for any repair costs / personal injurty etc etc, if they haven't already made a payment towards the third party