Car insurance fraud is one of the biggest problems for the insurance industry at the moment. Car insurance is a legal requirement for anyone wishing to drive on the road, but increasingly large numbers of people are deliberately providing inaccurate information on their insurance applications in order to get cheaper deals. Of course, this ultimately means that when it comes to making a claim, the insurance company find that many of their details conflict with the actual truth. In this situation, more often than not, the insurance policy will be considered invalid and the claimant may find themselves accused of trying to commit insurance fraud.
It is possible to accidentally commit insurance fraud. If you fill out an application and accidentally don’t provide a piece of information that may be considered important, you could find yourself invalidating your policy before you’ve really got it. Any change in your personal circumstances from the date of application should also be passed along to the insurance company, and in certain situations you might find that this results in a reduced premium.
One common mistake is failing to disclose an accident. Whilst it can be appealing if you are trying to build up or protect a no-claims bonus, if you experience an accident and don’t inform the insurance company of the fact, you may find that you accidentally invalidate your insurance. Insurance companies offer the cheapest policies to those who prove that they are the safest drivers. Therefore, if you have an accident and don’t inform the company, they’re going to think that you are a safer driver than you may actually be, and therefore are going to be unhappy about offering you a cheaper policy.
Of course, disclosure of the accident does not necessarily mean that your premium will go up or that you will lose your no-claims bonus, after all, if you are willing to pay the price of any repairs yourself, you won’t have made a claim. If the accident isn’t your fault and the other person is willing to admit to it, then their insurance company will cover the costs and it’s unlikely that you will face any penalty on your premium. All the same, it is best to be open and honest with the insurance company, as it is better to pay slightly more for insurance than try to make a claim and find that your whole policy has been invalidated.
