Car hit by third party - insurance advice
Discussion
Let's keep this hypothetical (and civil) =)
Scenario: car hit by TP. Owner contacts their own insurers to inform them, but not claim, as he will be dealing with the (neighbours) TP's ins co.
Owner asks their own ins co if this goes down as an incident / claim. Owner's ins co says no (this was 5+ years ago). Owner has multiple vehicles / policies and did not inform other insurers of said incident, as advised by their insurer.
Was this advice correct?
What happens if a similar scenario happens (with another insurer), and the advice offered was different by the owner's insurance. The TP insurers advice says to notify them "for info only, but not for a claim".
Scenario: car hit by TP. Owner contacts their own insurers to inform them, but not claim, as he will be dealing with the (neighbours) TP's ins co.
Owner asks their own ins co if this goes down as an incident / claim. Owner's ins co says no (this was 5+ years ago). Owner has multiple vehicles / policies and did not inform other insurers of said incident, as advised by their insurer.
Was this advice correct?
What happens if a similar scenario happens (with another insurer), and the advice offered was different by the owner's insurance. The TP insurers advice says to notify them "for info only, but not for a claim".
It was over 5 years ago so doesn't really matter now.
The policyholder just has to answer any questions asked honestly, regardless of any advice received. So it depends what questions were asked at subsequent policy renewals, but you can be pretty certain the incident should have been declared.
Highly unlikely to result in any serious sanction if discovered
The policyholder just has to answer any questions asked honestly, regardless of any advice received. So it depends what questions were asked at subsequent policy renewals, but you can be pretty certain the incident should have been declared.
Highly unlikely to result in any serious sanction if discovered
It would come down to the actual wording of the questions asked. With slight variations in the way they are asked, it is possible there's slight variations in where the line actually is, regarding what is reportable or not.
For example if it asked "have you had any accidents or claims in the past 5 years?" it would be different that if it asked "have you had any accidents, claims or incidents regardless of blame in the past 5 years?"
For example if the vehicle was legally parked then left unattended, it is difficult to say it was an "accident" but it would be reasonable to describe it as an "incident" in common language.
For example if it asked "have you had any accidents or claims in the past 5 years?" it would be different that if it asked "have you had any accidents, claims or incidents regardless of blame in the past 5 years?"
For example if the vehicle was legally parked then left unattended, it is difficult to say it was an "accident" but it would be reasonable to describe it as an "incident" in common language.
As above it is over 5 years ago now, and as the question asked at take up of insurance is generally "have you had any convictions/claims/accidents in the last 5 years" then the honest answer is "no" so I am not sure why you are asking after this period of time.
Had the same question been asked in the previous 5 year period, then obviously the answer would have been "yes". Just because it is not a claim on your own insurance doesn't mean it is not a claim/accident.
Had the same question been asked in the previous 5 year period, then obviously the answer would have been "yes". Just because it is not a claim on your own insurance doesn't mean it is not a claim/accident.
Speedgelb said:
Owner asks their own ins co if this goes down as an incident / claim. Owner's ins co says no (this was 5+ years ago). Owner has multiple vehicles / policies and did not inform other insurers of said incident, as advised by their insurer.
Was this advice correct?
Owners own insurance never gave any advice on how to deal with other insurers. They never advised "no need to tell anyone". All they said was that they don't put it down as a claim. Was this advice correct?
Owner has taken what his own insurers said, and put his own interpretation on it, and made his own decision not to tell other insurers.
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