Didn't declare SP30, insurance auto renewed.
Discussion
Had a bump yesterday (my fault), and now I'm stuck in a bit of a predicament. My insurance auto renewed at the end of November last year, and I didn't get chance to declare my sp30. Every time I previously tried to ring my insurance, I have had zero luck getting through to them. I'll be on hold for upto an hour before giving up or the call just drops.
Anyway, the guy I bumped into is saying he is happy to settle it privately. But I'm unsure on what to do. The front of my car is f**ckd. The rear of his car has a few slight scratches and a broken light sensor. Nothing major.
If I call my insurance and inform them of the accident and my sp30 will they just void the policy? Do I have no leg to stand on? Am I f**ckd?
The guy I bumped into says it's his partners car and he's insured as 3rd party on it. I'm abit unsure on this.
Anyway, the guy I bumped into is saying he is happy to settle it privately. But I'm unsure on what to do. The front of my car is f**ckd. The rear of his car has a few slight scratches and a broken light sensor. Nothing major.
If I call my insurance and inform them of the accident and my sp30 will they just void the policy? Do I have no leg to stand on? Am I f**ckd?
The guy I bumped into says it's his partners car and he's insured as 3rd party on it. I'm abit unsure on this.
Edited by Jayx5 on Friday 17th February 12:02
They are unlikely to void your insurance for an SP30. But it's quite possible they will only pay out on a pro-rata basis for your repairs and also ask for an increased premium for the remainder of the policy.
There is really only one way to find out though and that is to ring them, but if you do that, once you start the call, you have committed to whatever the outcome is.
I would ring them, maybe explain you have tried to call them, do you have phone records to show how long you were on hold for?
There are not complete b**(&^^*%%$ds all the time.
There is really only one way to find out though and that is to ring them, but if you do that, once you start the call, you have committed to whatever the outcome is.
I would ring them, maybe explain you have tried to call them, do you have phone records to show how long you were on hold for?
There are not complete b**(&^^*%%$ds all the time.
For the future Email or letters if you can't get through on the phone (email especially is far easier to prove re requirement to notify). While insurer can argue they want you to contact by phone the ombudsman etc would almost certainly accept you stating you couldn't get through and it gives much better evidence (e.g. recorded delivery (or receipt for send)) that you tried to tell them.
Talk to your insurer asap (if that means spending the next 3 days ringing them every hour when the call drops that is what you need to do
).
If you can show that you didn't intend to deceive (i.e. evidence you repeatedly tried to contact them re-offence and auto renewal) then as long as they cover people with offence (they almost certainly will...) they are supposed to only be able to charge you the difference in price. Showing willing by getting in touch and telling them strengthens your argument that it was accidental(/couldn't get through) rather than intentional to get cheaper insurance...
Of course you are now basically stuck with whatever they charge for that rather than shopping around.
Talk to your insurer asap (if that means spending the next 3 days ringing them every hour when the call drops that is what you need to do
).If you can show that you didn't intend to deceive (i.e. evidence you repeatedly tried to contact them re-offence and auto renewal) then as long as they cover people with offence (they almost certainly will...) they are supposed to only be able to charge you the difference in price. Showing willing by getting in touch and telling them strengthens your argument that it was accidental(/couldn't get through) rather than intentional to get cheaper insurance...
Of course you are now basically stuck with whatever they charge for that rather than shopping around.
Are you insured with an insurance company that used to be known as a city and longest reigning monarch (until Elizabeth took over) and is now known by their initials?
If so they are next to impossible to get through too although when I went through the renewal route it was easier.
I have a claim with them, I hope they have dealt with the guy I hit better than they have with me! Their approved repairer never contacted me, I tried calling gave up. Went to a repairer I know, as thought the damage to my car was slight, turned out it was less light than I thought. Repaired submits a quote to insurance. Hear nothing.
I call them about my renewal and then ask questions about the claim. Am told they hadn’t responded as they thought their approved repairer was fixing it. I said never heard from them, so they ask why I didn’t call. I say I did couldn’t get through. They say using your own repairer will add £200 to your excess. I say fine and they say ok we’ll put it through. Shortly afterwards they call back and say in circumstances we won’t charge additional excess.
5 weeks later repairer as heard nothing. I have resorted to email as still can’t get through on phone.
If so they are next to impossible to get through too although when I went through the renewal route it was easier.
I have a claim with them, I hope they have dealt with the guy I hit better than they have with me! Their approved repairer never contacted me, I tried calling gave up. Went to a repairer I know, as thought the damage to my car was slight, turned out it was less light than I thought. Repaired submits a quote to insurance. Hear nothing.
I call them about my renewal and then ask questions about the claim. Am told they hadn’t responded as they thought their approved repairer was fixing it. I said never heard from them, so they ask why I didn’t call. I say I did couldn’t get through. They say using your own repairer will add £200 to your excess. I say fine and they say ok we’ll put it through. Shortly afterwards they call back and say in circumstances we won’t charge additional excess.
5 weeks later repairer as heard nothing. I have resorted to email as still can’t get through on phone.
Jayx5 said:
If I call my insurance and inform them of the accident and my sp30 will they just void the policy? Do I have no leg to stand on? Am I f**ckd?
Your insurer can only void your policy entirely if they can prove that you deliberately failed to disclose the SP30, as opposed to just being careless, disorganised or forgetful (unlikely) or if they would not have insured you at all had they known about it (also unlikely, unless you have other convictions or are otherwise in a high risk group).More likely they would apply a proportional settlement, ie if they would have charged you a 10% higher premium had you disclosed it, they would reduce the settlement by 10%, or expect you to pay 10% of the total repair costs.
If you were really lucky they might just ask you to pay whatever the extra premium would have been and then deal with the claim as normal, though the law does allow them to impose a proportional settlement instead.
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