A friend of mine got drunk one night, totalled his car and was appropriately convicted about two years ago. He is now looking to start driving again, and while he knows that insurance premiums are going to be high (£1200 for a Cinquecento) the car wasn't insured in his name. As a result, it was his father who made the claim, with my friend as a named driver.
They paid out and all is fine there. He wants to know whether, in response to the specific question which is usually phrased "Have you had any claims in the last n years" (my emphasis) should he say yes, or given that it was his father who filled in the claim form, can he gloss over this?
I know there is a general duty to inform an insurance company of anything that may be relevant to calculating a premium, so it may be a moot point - but what do these questions actually mean?
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Yeah, but it was his claim really through another person's insurance.
As far as his dad is concerned it was his son's claim and not his. At least that's what we were told when we asked our rep the same sort of question. If I had crashed then although it would have been my dad filling in the claim form it would have been my responsibility, not his.
The only way it wouldn't work like that is for a theft claim, no one is driving at the time so it is down to the policyholder AFAIK. Certainly that's how it worked with my mate, his car was nicked, but as it was all in his Aunt's name, and she claimed for the theft, it's her who has to declare the claim not him as it wasn;t his car that got nicked. Now he's on his own policy and states no claims in the last 3 years.
I could be talking garbage here but I think the jist of what I'm saying is vaugely right! :)
Blue
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Er, he was drunk, driving, convicted and banned. Doesn't matter who's name the insurance was in - HE was at fault and will have to 'fess up to it. Including the question about "have you been convicted of a drink driving offence?" My understanding is that your £1200 is wildly optimisitc - 2 or 3 times that, and quite a lot of companies will decline to quote. Most insurance companies also add "insured or not" when they are asking questions about 'claim' history - so you cannot get away with not claiming and hoping it will not affect your premium.
Richard
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i insured my dad this year as i owed him some money he was done for drink driving banned for 2 years, fine and community service etc, he didnt bother getting his license back as he didnt need it. Then he decided to get it after a period of 5 years the insurance firm asked if there was any convictions in the last 5 years which i replied no (as it was over the 5 year period that it happened and they did not ask for over 5 years) it is a reputable company too.
As a result he got fully comp on a 2.0 ford mondeo GLX for about £500 if yourt willing to wait its worth while but i dunno about the 2 or 3 times the amount of £1200 thats a little wild or am i totally wrong?
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Drink driving convictions have to be declared for 10 or 11 years so your father is effectively withholding vital information from his insurance company.
teabelly
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Not if they only ask for convictions in the last 5 years, thats all most are interested in. It's just that a drink driving conviction stays on your licence for 10 years...
Blue
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Drink driving convictions have to be declared for 10 or 11 years so your father is effectively withholding vital information from his insurance company. teabelly
Not so. Yes the conviction stays on the license for 10 years, but if your insurance company ask for a declaration of "any convictions in the last 5 years" "Details of convictions should include fixed penalty points and disqualifications" quoted from direct line, then no statutary information as required is being withheld.
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Drink driving convictions have to be declared for 10 or 11 years so your father is effectively withholding vital information from his insurance company.
Not convinced this is correct.
It is up to the insurance companies how long they should be declared for.
As far as DVLA goes, you are correct. the conviction stays on your licence for 10 years. If caught again in that time, you are going to be walking for a minimum of 3 years!
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Well we were not with-holding information they never asked for it, if they only say 5 years then thats all they are interested in, they do check with DVLA to see if you are legally allowed to drive on the roads so they would see it there on your record right!!!
The other thing is what if say someone had a driving conviction with points and then after 3 years those points were taken off. When they ask if youve had any convictions inthe last 5 years do you say no as they have been taken off or yes because technically its within the 5 year period still? I gather the answer to be a yes for that but what do others think?
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>they do check with DVLA to see if you are legally allowed to drive on the roads so they would see it there on your record right!!!
Do they? you dont have to give your license number, so do they check? I am sure someone who works in insurance will answer this
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im sure when i first got insured i had to send then a photo copy of my driving license, however upon thinking about it im not totally sure really
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AFAIK, it's not the insurer's responsibility to make such checks. It's made quite clear that any false or withheld statements can render the policy invalid, so it's up to the customer to provide truthful details of whatever that particular company asks for.
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HF you're exactly right. Insurance contracts are "utmost good faith" contracts. This means that you have to declare everyting that's relevant, otherwise the contract is void.
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Why not tell the insurance company everything you think might be relevant, regardless of whether they ask the specific question or not?
If your additional information is of no interest to them, then you can sleep soundly in the knowledge that everything is is it should be. If your 'declaration of truth' does affect the premium/cover then you should heave a huge sigh of relief in the knowledge that had you not told them, you might not have been insured at all.
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The £1200 is an actual quote based on both the claims and the convictions. It is only TPF&T on a group 1 car, but it is also for a 25 year old in London, with Direct Line.
I don't remember exactly how the question was worded on the website but that does take into account the full history. There was also no question of the conviction not being declared as it would be fraud, and pointless anyway as it would be discovered at the latest if there was another claim event.
Given the duty of utmost good faith (which is IMO somewhat unreasonable as it puts the onus on a potentially naive client rather than a commercially sophisticated insurance company) and the comparatively small amount the claim will add, compared to the conviction, I will advise him to declare it.
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>The £1200 is an actual quote based on both the claims and the convictions. It is only TPF&T on a group 1 car, but it is also for a 25 year old in London, with Direct Line.
I stand corrected... That's pretty cheap considering!
Richard
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