Disclosure of non fault accidents on motor insurance

kennM

Good afternoon all,

Quick question - Is there an obligation to disclosure non fault accidents (that have completely settled which did NOT result in any claim from your insurance) when getting new insurance? I'm suspecting there is a possibility they'll attract a loading despite zero fault being attributable to myself.

Naturally such a loading is completely unfair as there was no liability attributable to me and claim was 100% settled full and final by other drivers insurance company. I was pretty much stationary at a junction and another driving, chatting on the phone and not paying attention, drove into the side of me. 100% liability was accepted by driver and their insurance company and claim went through other drivers insurance.

Interested to get thoughts here.... thx.

kilp10

kennM wrote: »

Good afternoon all,

Quick question - Is there an obligation to disclosure non fault accidents (that have completely settled which did NOT result in any claim from your insurance) when getting new insurance? I'm suspecting there is a possibility they'll attract a loading despite zero fault being attributable to myself.

Naturally such a loading is completely unfair as there was no liability attributable to me and claim was 100% settled full and final by other drivers insurance company. I was pretty much stationary at a junction and another driving, chatting on the phone and not paying attention, drove into the side of me. 100% liability was accepted by driver and their insurance company and claim went through other drivers insurance.

Interested to get thoughts here.... thx.

Was in a similar position a few years ago. I was told by the company I was insured with at the time that I didn't need to notify them if the claim wasn't going through my policy. It didn't therefore get added onto the statement of no claims & I've never mentioned it in getting subsequent quotes. Should I have? Don't know but if its not on the statement then I didn't see why I should. Only time it will appear is if you go through your own company first & then liability is assigned to the other party, it'll appear as a no fault accident. Most insurance companies have a limit of 3 own fault accidents in 5 years and supposed to disregard any no fault but I don't know if they really do. I go on the basis, declare what's on the statement

Little CuChulainn

It depends on the question asked by the insurance company. If you lie on the form it is an offence and can result in the voiding of your insurance.

coylemj

If the other side paid in full then there was no claim on your policy so you can validly say 'none' if asked if there was any claims on your previous insurance.

However there is an obligation for full disclosure so if the question is in any way vague, you will need to tell them the full story to avoid any difficulties in the future like they claim you told a porkie when applying for a quote.

If I was you I would avoid any company which asks the question in a vague manner because if you tell them the full facts and they decline you a quote, that in itself becomes an 'event' that most companies want to know about which will cause all sorts of trouble. Most companies will ask if you have been declined cover or if conditions have been attached to a policy you had in the past.

JohnK

When I was looking for insurance recently everyone asked if I was ever involved in an accident regardless of who was at fault. Like yourself I had been hit by another car who was 100% at fault a while back and after duly disclosing this it was difficult to even get a quote from a lot of places - to the point that some brokers were shocked at what was coming back and couldn't understand the high quotes and the small number of choices.

I'd be surprised if theres any insurance company who wouldn't ask the question these days and while you might get away with not saying anything now they'd almost certainly use it to nail you to the wall in the event you ever try to make a claim.

kennM

JohnK wrote: »

When I was looking for insurance recently everyone asked if I was ever involved in an accident regardless of who was at fault. Like yourself I had been hit by another car who was 100% at fault a while back and after duly disclosing this it was difficult to even get a quote from a lot of places - to the point that some brokers were shocked at what was coming back and couldn't understand the high quotes and the small number of choices.

I'd be surprised if theres any insurance company who wouldn't ask the question these days and while you might get away with not saying anything now they'd almost certainly use it to nail you to the wall in the event you ever try to make a claim.

I think the best bet is to listen to that question very very very carefully and answer EXACTLY what they ask.

coylemj

JohnK wrote: »

When I was looking for insurance recently everyone asked if I was ever involved in an accident regardless of who was at fault. Like yourself I had been hit by another car who was 100% at fault a while back and after duly disclosing this it was difficult to even get a quote from a lot of places - to the point that some brokers were shocked at what was coming back and couldn't understand the high quotes and the small number of choices.

I'd be surprised if theres any insurance company who wouldn't ask the question these days and while you might get away with not saying anything now they'd almost certainly use it to nail you to the wall in the event you ever try to make a claim.

Can you clarify which companies you talked to when you say: 'everyone asked if I was ever involved in an accident?'

Aviva on their online quote simply ask how many years NCB you have.... 'No claims bonus in your own name (years)'

Liberty has a field 'No claims Discount?' and you select the number of years from a drop down menu.

RSA sends you to 123.ie where they ask a simple yes/no ... 'Claims in the last 4 years?'

So they don't all ask the question in the format 'were you ever involved in an accident?'

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

JohnK

coylemj wrote: »

Can you clarify which companies you talked to when you say: 'everyone asked if I was ever involved in an accident?'

Aviva on their online quote simply ask how many years NCB you have.... 'No claims bonus in your own name (years)'

Liberty has a field 'No claims Discount?' and you select the number of years from a drop down menu.

RSA sends you to 123.ie where they ask a simple yes/no ... 'Claims in the last 4 years?'

So they don't all ask the question in the format 'were you ever involved in an accident?'

I rang and spoke to people rather than used any online forms and the only names I can remember are AA & TopQuote as well as some local-ish brokers around Cork but I can't remember their name. There were at least two or three others but for the life of me I can't remember who they were - I was ringing random numbers off the tv at that stage but getting similar results from them all. I can't remember the exact wording of the question but in each case they wanted to know of *any* accidents/incidents and they specifically mentioned that they wanted to know even where I wasn't at fault as well as details of the eventual cost the other drivers insurance company paid out to fix my car.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

JohnK

5 years was mentioned as the cutoff to me alright but so far as I'm aware that's just a number decided on themselves so nothing to stop them from extending it to 10 or 15 years if it suits them.