Insurance claims history - is there a cut off?

tails_naf

In the process of renewing my motor insurance, as I signed the forms I noticed the following in the fine print.

"You must provide details of any claims, regardless of date, or your insurance policy may be void. Insurance companies maintain a register of all claims (which is checked in the event of a claim), and if an unreported past claim is found, your policy may be cancelled"

The first thing that struck me is - if this register exists, then why is it not consulted before accepting a person for insurance?

Anyway, I contacted the broker and they confirmed I should provide all details of all claims, no matter how old - just in case.

Now the thing is I have had 2 minor claims - one 12 years ago and one 10 years ago - and a clean record since then. However, I don't have the exact details of the claims - I know both were small (of the order of 1,000 - 2,000) but don't even know the exact dates / don't have records to consult.

So given this - how am I supposed to comply with this request? I had thought anything over 5 years usually does not count - so does this cut-off exist?
Is there a way I can lookup this register myself?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am fast approaching my renewal deadline.

mgbgt1978

It used to be 'any claims within the past 3/5 years'.
It still is with some Insurers.
In fairness if somebody has 5 years claim-free motoring then they surely have a full no-claims bonus.

If an insurer is going to load somebody for a 20 year old claim (for example) then it can only be seen as a money grabbing exercise.

OP, have another chat with your broker. Explain your situation and see what they advise.
If they're not able to help you perhaps you might consider another Broker.

tails_naf

Thanks mg - I'll give them another shout tomorrow.

I was of the same mind as you and thought 5 years was the limit - I have my full no-claims,etc. so I called the broker today to confirm the wording I read - and the said that it could be an issue if you fail to disclose your full history. I'm thinking of telling them what I can remember (and putting it in writing) - and then also (in writing) that they should look up their register to confirm my claim history. Hopefully that will cover me - but I can't help but think this is just a way of them having the power to invalidate a claim later because you omitted something insignificant.

I'd like to go to another broker at this stage - but I have 7 days to sign the forms and return them - so I'm in the grace period between insurers. I'd say moving to another then could be tricky because of the 'have you ever had insurance refused or cancelled' question that may then apply!!

goz83

It's worse than that. Even if you make a claim off another motorists policy (ie. they hit you and are at fault), you still have to declare it. You'll also find it next to impossible to move company with an open claim, even if the other party has already accepted liability. Joke of a system and needs some serious changes.

mgbgt1978

It's situations such as this where you should find a Broker helpful.
Otherwise you would go straight to an Insurer (either online or by phone, or at least an online Broker such as chill for example),
The Broker takes his cut out of this deal.....your money. If they cannot try and advise you properly in a situation like this then they are simply not earning their money.
Try a few of the online sites and see what sort of timescale they are asking about. If it's only 5 years or so then obviously at least some Insurers don't care what happened a decade ago:).

coylemj

tails_naf wrote: »

In the process of renewing my motor insurance, as I signed the forms I noticed the following in the fine print.

"You must provide details of any claims, regardless of date, or your insurance policy may be void. Insurance companies maintain a register of all claims (which is checked in the event of a claim), and if an unreported past claim is found, your policy may be cancelled"

I strongly suspect that that wording was inserted by the broker to cover his ass. Each insurance company explicitly asks you about claims over the past xx years, none that I have ever dealt with left it as an open question like that.

tails_naf wrote: »

I'd like to go to another broker at this stage - but I have 7 days to sign the forms and return them - so I'm in the grace period between insurers.

Are you assuming that you have seven 'days of grace' when your current policy expires? You don't on motor insurance.

tails_naf

coylemj wrote: »

Are you assuming that you have seven 'days of grace' when your current policy expires? You don't on motor insurance.

No, I am officially signed up to the new insurer via the broker (and have paid for it) and was in the process of signing the paper work when I noticed the wording, so contacted the broker about it. Their own documentation states that while I am insured, I must return the documentation signed within 7 days. Hence the rush on to get this figured out.

I agree that this was likely a condition inserted by the broker themselves, but it sure it making things difficult for me now. I'd hate to have a sneaky technicality like that come back to bite me in the event of a claim

mgbgt1978

Possibly too late for you OP, but a quick online quote check with Liberty only asks if you have had any accidents or claims within the last 3 years.
As already said I'd imagine most insurers are similar.

djimi

tails_naf wrote: »

I was of the same mind as you and thought 5 years was the limit - I have my full no-claims,etc. so I called the broker today to confirm the wording I read - and the said that it could be an issue if you fail to disclose your full history. I'm thinking of telling them what I can remember (and putting it in writing) - and then also (in writing) that they should look up their register to confirm my claim history. Hopefully that will cover me - but I can't help but think this is just a way of them having the power to invalidate a claim later because you omitted something insignificant.

I'd like to go to another broker at this stage - but I have 7 days to sign the forms and return them - so I'm in the grace period between insurers. I'd say moving to another then could be tricky because of the 'have you ever had insurance refused or cancelled' question that may then apply!!

Over the past couple of years (that I can remember), I have spoken to all the major insurers and several brokers (big and small) to get quotes, and to the best of my memory every single one of them asked about claims in the past 3 years.

Now I know when it comes to insurance it is not a good idea not to disclose anything that might be seen as important information, but as far as Im concerned, you answer the questions they ask at quote/renewal time. This means that if they ask about claims in the past three years then you tell them about claims in the past three year. They cannot then at a later date turn around and start giving you hassle for a claim older than three years that you did not disclose.

djimi

tails_naf wrote: »

I agree that this was likely a condition inserted by the broker themselves, but it sure it making things difficult for me now. I'd hate to have a sneaky technicality like that come back to bite me in the event of a claim

It might be a case that the broker wants/needs to know your full claims history so as to cover all eventualities when they are searching for quotes for you. There is not much point in them asking for claims in the past three years and then coming up against an insurer who wants to know about the past 5 years, leaving them with a 2 year gap that they cannot answer for.