Renewal / Pending Outcome

jsj25

Evening all,

About a year ago, my car was rear ended by another driver whilst my named driver was driving. It was quite obvious who was at fault and the third party driver had actually wanted to settle the cost of repairing my car privately. However, they ceased all contact when we notified them that, either way, we would be notifying the insurance company. I was insured by Direct Line at the time, though my new policy with Admiral had been due to start about a week later. I therefore duly notified both companies and made the claim with Direct Line. My car got repaired and I thought no more of it.

Some weeks after my car was repaired, Direct Line called me to say that the third party's insurer was denying all liability, which came as quite the shock. Updates have been few and far between since then as the third party's insurers have been almost completely unresponsive. However, I have chased Direct Line several times and we are now at the stage where the case has been passed to their legal team, with a view to potentially getting this settled in court.

My car insurance with Admiral is currently due for renewal. During my most recent call with Direct Line, I mentioned that I was thinking about going back to them and queried how I was supposed to declare this incident on my application now that liability is being disputed. They said simply to declare it as a 50/50 claim, then notify them as and when that changes so they can refund me the difference.

The above has got me thinking. Admiral have given me a renewal quote based on the information I provided them last year - ie. when the liability of the incident was not in dispute. Following my recent call with Direct Line, I understand that I will need to notify Admiral that the outcome could potentially change. My question is, will it be a problem that I haven't notified them until now? I understand that my renewal quote will likely go up, but just wanted to make sure that's the worst that could happen. Like I said, I made every effort at the time of the incident to be transparent and declare it to them before the policy started. Since then, I haven't formally notified them of anything because updates have been so few and far between, plus the outcome has yet to be decided. My understanding had been that I would only need to notify them in the event of the court/legal teams deciding on a 50/50 settlement. Would be grateful for your thoughts.

Aylesbury_Duck

Just be honest.  Check your terms and conditions with Admiral.  If they oblige you to inform them - mid term - of any changes to your history, then they may want to know why you've left it a while (several months?) to inform them that what was originally declared as a non-fault incident is actually yet to be classed as such.  By your own account (if I've understood you correctly), you were informed "some weeks" into your new policy that liability was in doubt, so why didn't you call Admiral then and inform them accordingly?

I've no idea what Admiral's stance will be on this.  Might they apply a retrospective premium increase for the last year, given that it was based on erroneous information?  You can only ring them and find out.

AdrianC

Yes, you should have notified the new insurer at the time - the risk had changed.

You were given a quote based on no incidents or claims. When the policy started, you had an outstanding claim due to a collision involving a car covered by your policy.

It's not a 50/50 - it's an open claim still.

jsj25

Thanks, both, for your comments. I've looked at my Admiral policy document which says:

"Please tell us when you renew your insurance of any accidents, incidents, thefts, losses or claims (Fault or Non Fault) that you or any driver on your policy have made, excluding any claims made under this policy."

I'm guessing this means I'm covered? As discussed, I informed them of the incident immediately, which took place whilst I was covered by Direct Line. I'm pretty certain that when I notified them (over the phone) I explained that, given how recently it had taken place, it hadn't formally been settled by Direct Line, though it was almost certain to be non-fault - so, again, true to the best of my knowledge. And my understanding of the wording above is that my obligation to tell them of any changes would have been applicable at the time of renewal, not immediately. Am I reading that right?

AdrianC

The general rule of thumb for insurance is to tell them.

If they didn't need to know, it won't affect your premium.

If they raise your premium, then they needed to know, and it's better for them to find out up front than in the aftermath of a claim...

jsj25

Cheers, Adrian. Fully agree with you so I'll have to take this as a learning curve - I'm normally very prompt in notifying them about minor things but in this instance I genuinely didn't realise there was anything to notify them of. Will play it safe next time.

jsj25

Minor update - phoned Admiral to let them know what's going on. They changed the incident to At Fault and knocked my NCB down by a year, and to my surprise the renewal quote didn't change at all. In fact, when I told them that I'd been considering going back to Direct Line, they knocked £100 off it. So that probably went about as well as I could have hoped.    (As I said, though, lesson learned for next time - didn't need the hassle or stress!)