Lying to Ins Co. about licence points to save money
Discussion
This chap I work with got burgled and his CSL was stolen. The car was recovered a couple of days later but was damaged. It wasn't destroyed, mainly paintwork and loads of interior parts. The local BMW main agent quoted over £10k to put the car right.
So, the chap makes a claim on his car insurance. While processing the claim his insurance company find that both him and his missus both have points on their licenses which they hadn't declared.
Guess what happened next?
So, the chap makes a claim on his car insurance. While processing the claim his insurance company find that both him and his missus both have points on their licenses which they hadn't declared.
Guess what happened next?
Rovinghawk said:
Oh dear. What a shame. Never mind.
RH
You'd think so, eh? Me too. RH
But no. They just charged him the difference between the premium he paid and the premium he should have paid in the first place! I could hardly believe what I was hearing when he was telling me.
We were talking about it yesterday and one of the other guys in our office said almost the same had happened to him. He wrote his car off, Inc Co wanted to see his license before paying out. Turned out he had undeclared points and, again, they just deducted the difference from his payout.
I had no idea this was so common. I'd always imagined it would be a pointless thing to do. Seems not.
Mattt said:
I've heard of similar instances before - either the Ins Co reduced the payout by the increased premium amount, or they reduced the %age payout by the %age difference in premium.
Kind of makes fools of the rest of though, doesn't it? The odd thing is, neither of these guys are what you would call "dodgy". Both are intelligent and seemingly honest normal guys.
I had a huge bum-clenchy moment right at the end of a recent long and complex claim where the insurer took a copy of my paper licence and said "what's that endorsement on it?". I declared a clean licence since the endorsement was from years ago and had lapsed or whatever the technical term is; the endorsement was a 1 month ban for speeding so it was significant.
Wasn't a problem in the end, but had a day or two of painful waiting for an answer.
Note to self: get paper license replaced.
Wasn't a problem in the end, but had a day or two of painful waiting for an answer.
Note to self: get paper license replaced.
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
I am amazed TBH.
I figured give and Ins Co any wriggle room and they would bin you.
I agree above that it does actually make a mockery of the 'Honest ones'
What about undeclared mods?
The CSL was completely standard. I've no idea about the other one, I imagine it was also standard as the guy is not really a 'car person'.I figured give and Ins Co any wriggle room and they would bin you.
I agree above that it does actually make a mockery of the 'Honest ones'
What about undeclared mods?
Or do you mean; what would the Ins Co have done then? Good question.
iMac Hunt said:
You'd think so, eh? Me too.
But no. They just charged him the difference between the premium he paid and the premium he should have paid in the first place! I could hardly believe what I was hearing when he was telling me.
We were talking about it yesterday and one of the other guys in our office said almost the same had happened to him. He wrote his car off, Inc Co wanted to see his license before paying out. Turned out he had undeclared points and, again, they just deducted the difference from his payout.
I had no idea this was so common. I'd always imagined it would be a pointless thing to do. Seems not.
what a jokeBut no. They just charged him the difference between the premium he paid and the premium he should have paid in the first place! I could hardly believe what I was hearing when he was telling me.
We were talking about it yesterday and one of the other guys in our office said almost the same had happened to him. He wrote his car off, Inc Co wanted to see his license before paying out. Turned out he had undeclared points and, again, they just deducted the difference from his payout.
I had no idea this was so common. I'd always imagined it would be a pointless thing to do. Seems not.
it seems that Honesty is no longer the best policy
SD1992 said:
pidsy said:
more fool them.
my insurance company requested a photocopy of my driving license and counterpart so they could check that exactly.
So did mine - and my licence is clean! I guess thats what you get for being 19 my insurance company requested a photocopy of my driving license and counterpart so they could check that exactly.
My brother used to work for a major insurer (that you would see advertised on tv) and said that this type of thing was quite common, but obviously at the discretion of the insurer. Having points for speeding doesn't directly mean that you are more likely to be burgled and have your car stolen, so they may well be even-handed in these matters. Not all insurance co's are the theiving buggers that they are made out to be on here sometimes.
It's really not worth it! I went from one insurance company that I'd been with for years but changing my car this other company were much better.
My wife wrote the car off 4 weeks later and then found out the points I thought had run their course were still live (granted 4 years and 6 months) but never the less I had not told them.
They 'reworked' the quote with my 4 1/2 year old 3 points (sp30) and they said my quote would have been 50% higher so they only covered me for 66% of the claim - I lost £5000.
My wife wrote the car off 4 weeks later and then found out the points I thought had run their course were still live (granted 4 years and 6 months) but never the less I had not told them.
They 'reworked' the quote with my 4 1/2 year old 3 points (sp30) and they said my quote would have been 50% higher so they only covered me for 66% of the claim - I lost £5000.
SSBB said:
My brother used to work for a major insurer (that you would see advertised on tv) and said that this type of thing was quite common, but obviously at the discretion of the insurer. Having points for speeding doesn't directly mean that you are more likely to be burgled and have your car stolen, so they may well be even-handed in these matters. Not all insurance co's are the theiving buggers that they are made out to be on here sometimes.
I was going to say exactly this before reading the rest of the thread. If there's no material impact on the risk of theft from having points on the license, then it shouldn't invalidate the policy. If he'd wrapped it round a lamp post then I can't see that there would have been a payout under the same circumstances. Obviously the insurance company, post theft, would have grounds to then cancel the policy or charge the correct premium going forward, which is what they've done.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff