Insurance Claim and undeclared SAC
Discussion
Got a question from a friend here (really!), he got into a minor accident at the start of the year. All repairs carried out and currently waiting for blame to be settled.
His policy has now come for renewal and it seems that they won't reinsure him as they are now aware that he got a speeding awareness course about 3 years ago. He is now proper worried that if he rings them up and confirms the course then they'll void the claim and then he'll have the associated problems with that. In his defence he didn't do it on purpose, there was no drop down to select it under convictions and it's a policy thats been renewed for a couple of years and he can't recall ever being asked about the course when he's renewed.
Anyone got any advice for him, he's really worried!
His policy has now come for renewal and it seems that they won't reinsure him as they are now aware that he got a speeding awareness course about 3 years ago. He is now proper worried that if he rings them up and confirms the course then they'll void the claim and then he'll have the associated problems with that. In his defence he didn't do it on purpose, there was no drop down to select it under convictions and it's a policy thats been renewed for a couple of years and he can't recall ever being asked about the course when he's renewed.
Anyone got any advice for him, he's really worried!
zedstar said:
His policy has now come for renewal and it seems that they won't reinsure him as they are now aware that he got a speeding awareness course about 3 years ago. He is now proper worried that if he rings them up and confirms the course then they'll void the claim and then he'll have the associated problems with that.
Why is he worried about ringing them if they already know? I wonder how they found out.If they won't reinsure him he will have to answer "yes" to the question "have you ever had a policy refused, cancelled, or voided?"
https://www.thinkmoney.co.uk/news-advice/do-i-need...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-ord...
Who to believe?
If there was no category for SAC in the drop down* then it could be argued that the insurer is breaching the TCF principle under ICOBS.
* Therefore I assume it's not any of the Admiral Group companies. They all have mandatory disclosure of SACs.
In the meantime, you might find this helpful - http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications...
This is the relevant legislation:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/6/content...
Did he tell them about the SAC, as they are not recorded on his licence as an endorsement?
It may be the insurer have changed their underwriting criteria since last year. But we can only guess - phone and ask!
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/6/content...
Did he tell them about the SAC, as they are not recorded on his licence as an endorsement?
It may be the insurer have changed their underwriting criteria since last year. But we can only guess - phone and ask!
zedstar said:
His policy has now come for renewal and it seems that they won't reinsure him as they are now aware that he got a speeding awareness course about 3 years ago.
Is this an Admiral company, who asked him - and he lied?Or is this a different company, who never asked in the first place?
I don't know which company it is I do know he bought the policy online on a comparison site and there was definitely no option for SAC. I just asked him now and his insurance has not been cancelled or anything like that just not offered for renewal. Apparently he rang up to get some no claims proof or whatever and the rep told him to get the details of the SAC and then he could reinstate the policy and taking about it like it's no big thing.
I don't think there's anything more to it.
I don't think there's anything more to it.
I am told that SACs are confidential. There is no publicly accessible database of them so no way an insurer can know if you have had one unless you blab it on facebook etc. If your friend didn't blab it on the internet he can simply deny it and ask them to show where their information came from as it was clearly in breach of data protection.
I insured my car with Admiral in September after gaining an online quote from a comparison site, the site made no mention of SAC. I telephoned Admiral to accept the quote, they asked many questions but nothing about a SAC. A few days ago I got a letter from Admiral telling me that they were now aware that I had attended a SAC and gave details of the date and wanting an extra £37.
Not the end of the world and fair do's but I thought I'd give them a call for the sake of it. I told them that at no time was I asked about a SAC, the reply was you would have been. I decided to stick to my guns which resulted in a supervisor listening to the phone call mafe in September. I now have a letter saying that I have been refunded the £37.
They must be able to find out somehow then but for £37 I think I'd declare it in future.
Not the end of the world and fair do's but I thought I'd give them a call for the sake of it. I told them that at no time was I asked about a SAC, the reply was you would have been. I decided to stick to my guns which resulted in a supervisor listening to the phone call mafe in September. I now have a letter saying that I have been refunded the £37.
They must be able to find out somehow then but for £37 I think I'd declare it in future.
bad company said:
Interested stuff. So does anybody know how the insurance company can find out about a SAC?
No idea mate. Be interesting to see if any other companies outside the Admiral group have done the same though. I have never dislosed my SAC (believing I didn't have to) and have never been asked, although it seems Admiral should have done in which case I'd have fessed up.I did a SAC a couple of weeks ago, and the final section was unofficial advice that Admiral, Sheilas Wheels +2 other companies WILL ask you if you have attended a SAC. Decline to answer, and go elsewhere was the advice given, but rest assured, other companies will follow the lead and start increasing premiums if you answer in the affirmative !
bad company said:
TooMany2cvs said:
bad company said:
Interested stuff. So does anybody know how the insurance company can find out about a SAC?
The most likely way is that they've found he declared it somewhere else.I forgot about my SAC course and let my Elephant policy auto-renew. It didn't even occur to me as it wasn't 'points'.
Six months later, after renewal, I received a s
tty letter telling me of my 'deceit' and was relieved of £100+ extra for that year. I believe they could only have found out through my quote searches, where I did declare it when asked.tezzer said:
I did a SAC a couple of weeks ago, and the final section was unofficial advice that Admiral, Sheilas Wheels +2 other companies WILL ask you if you have attended a SAC. Decline to answer, and go elsewhere was the advice given, but rest assured, other companies will follow the lead and start increasing premiums if you answer in the affirmative !
They will only increase costs if they find a correlation between having done an SAC and an increase in risk. Some firms don't charge any extra for an actual single speeding offence, so I doubt they will charge extra for an SAC. Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff