Insurance company £500 fine for not reporting an accident

[coyft]

My daughter bumped into the back of her partners car, no damage to her car, but her partners car needs repairing. She should have reported it to her own insurance company, but just assumed her partners insurer would contact them.

She's just had a phone call from her insurance company telling her she's got to pay £500 for not reporting it within 24 hours. Sounds a bit odd to me, does anyone have any experience?

[Glenn63]

Sounds more like a scam to me.

[Dingu]

Seems really suspicious to me. I would be checking through the policy book or calling them on a known number to check.

Just a thought, the £500 isn’t excess or anything and there is some cross communication is there?

[coyft]

Dingu said:

Seems really suspicious to me. I would be checking through the policy book or calling them on a known number to check.

Just a thought, the £500 isn’t excess or anything and there is some cross communication is there?

No her excess is £800. Her insurance company is Acorn, just checked their reviews and they are terrible.

[Pastor Of Muppets]

coyft said:

Her insurance company is Acon, they are terrible .

FTFY

[coyft]

Just checked their terms of business......

If you are a Haven Policy Holder, a late reporting excess of £500 may
apply if you do not report your claim within 24 hours. If in doubt about whom you should contact, please contact us on
01704-270027.

[coyft]

Technically she's not making a claim, but rather reporting an incident.

[randlemarcus]

coyft said:

Just checked their terms of business......

If you are a Haven Policy Holder, a late reporting excess of £500 may
apply if you do not report your claim within 24 hours. If in doubt about whom you should contact, please contact us on
01704-270027.

That doesn't say "fine", that says additional excess. If she's not making a claim, there is no excess on her claim. They may choose to reclaim that additional excess based on her partners claim hitting her insurance company.

[jonwm]

Was it bad enough for her partner to claim? surely the rise in costs for both after a claim and an £800 excess makes me think they should have just sorted it together?

[nismo48]

Glenn63 said:

Sounds more like a scam to me.

+1 Strange way of communication

[DJP]

They can't apply any excess to a third party claim.

[loskie]

It's quite clear. She had an at fault accident. Failed to notify her insurer as per her and any other policy. Her insurer found out when her partner's insurer rightly pursued them for costs. She has breached the ts and cs of her policy.

It's not a pleasant situation to be in but your daughter is clearly in the wrong for failing to report an accident to her insurer. Not just Acorn but any insurer would require you to report such a matter. Whether or not other insurers impose a £500 penalty clause I do not know.

She MUST remember to declare it now come re quote time

Edited by loskie on Thursday 28th July 08:29

[vikingaero]

Thanks OP. After reading the reviews, it's another Insurer at the bottom of the pile to avoid.

[Starfighter]

Only if she has a claim. From what the OP has stayed, she has made no claim to her own insurance company.

Companies that hide behind T&Cs need to get the T&Cs correct.

[coyft]

Yes, she should have notified her insurer of the accident, but instead gave her insurance details to her partner assuming that’s all she needed to do as there was no damage to her car.

Just looks like a crap insurance company who try to rinse their customers for everything they can.

[Monkeylegend]

This is when it pays dividends to have read the so called normal size small print before committing to any agreements.

As is normally the case with most of us we only find out these things after the event.

[swisstoni]

I’d say that their T+Cs are badly worded and would refuse to pay this.

If it had said that you need to report any incident within their stipulated time, fair enough. But it clearly says ‘claim’. Their client was never going to claim against herself.

Another cautionary tale about not automatically taking the cheapest quote on the comparison sites.

[vikingaero]

Is it me, or does anyone else feel that the insurance companies/underwrtiters based in Gibraltar are a bit "sharkey"?

Whenever I see a Gib Insurer, my instinct is to actively swerve.

[Mr Tidy]

vikingaero said:

Is it me, or does anyone else feel that the insurance companies/underwrtiters based in Gibraltar are a bit "sharkey"?

Whenever I see a Gib Insurer, my instinct is to actively swerve.

No, I felt exactly the same when my broker placed me with a Gibraltar registered insurer - thankfully that policy has expired!

[Ham_and_Jam]

Not a chance I would be paying that.

The Ts & Cs clearly state that the £500 is applied if the policyholder is ‘late reporting a claim’.

No claim on her policy had been made.

Regardless whether the accident was reported in good time is irrelevant to this matter. The insurance company cannot manipulate their own Ts and Cs to fit a given situation.