car insurance quotes

KerrieY83

last year my car was parked up (I wasn't in the car at the time) and was hit by another car, the front bumper and headlight was damaged, the other person drove off without leaving any note. There was no cctv. My question is when checking for car insurance quotes they ask about accidents and claims and im unsure how to answer this qn. I told my last insurance company about the accident but no claims were made on either side. I stayed with my previous insurer as it was the cheapest quote but they noted down the accident/ claim on the policy because of this i don't know what to say if i was to get quotes in the future as a claim of no sort was made. 

bluelad1927

You need to answer the question which is likely to be " have you been involved in an accident" to which the answer is yes

MeteredOut

In hindsight, your "mistake" was informing the insurance company when you weren't making a claim. Legally you'd always have to declare it,  even if you hadn't informed them, but it would be risky not to declare it now since insurance companies share records with each other.

"mistake" is in quotes, as you did the right thing by telling them, but to your own detriment.

Bigphil1474

I get the OP's point - have they been involved in an accident? Well, their car was hit, but were they actually 'involved' in the accident. Does the involved technically mean them as a person, or just the insured vehicle. I think generally the answer would be Yes, but legally it might be more nuanced. 

Agree with above though, I would have just got the car fixed and not said anything, but then I am totally comfortable with that, whether people call it 'fraud' or anything else. 

DullGreyGuy

Bigphil1474 said:

I get the OP's point - have they been involved in an accident? Well, their car was hit, but were they actually 'involved' in the accident. Does the involved technically mean them as a person, or just the insured vehicle. I think generally the answer would be Yes, but legally it might be more nuanced. 

Agree with above though, I would have just got the car fixed and not said anything, but then I am totally comfortable with that, whether people call it 'fraud' or anything else. 

The question is normally broader, for example Confused.com asks...

Have any drivers had any motor accidents or claims in the last 5 years?

This includes any incidents, losses, thefts or claims involving a vehicle regardless of fault or whether you claimed or not.

There is no get out of jail free button trying to argue they weren't "involved" because they include losses and the OP has stated the vehicle sustained damage and therefore they had a loss even if they decided to live with the damage. 

As others have already said, many "forget" to mention such things when matters are settled privately but this will be considered fraud if the insurer discovers the non-disclosure. In this case however the OP has informed their insurers of the incident and so its fairly likely its in CUE and therefore would be a high risk approach to now try to "forget". 

For those that aren't aware, some insurers only do full checks at point of claim and so you could think you've gotten away with it, get involved in a fault accident and suddenly find your insurance void for non-disclosure. There have been several posters on here facing 5 figure bills for non-disclosure or similar actions that invalidate insurance and in my claims days we had 2 with a 6 figure bill. Before someone comes up with the idea, damages you owe someone for injuries are legally excluded from bankruptcy so the typical gung ho of MSE doesn't work either.