What you don’t tell your insurer could ruin your claims

Whenever you get a home or car insurance quote, you go through the laborious process (depending on the consultant, let’s be honest) of providing all manner of info in painstaking detail. By the end of it all, you’re given the quote for your potential premium and excess. Sometimes it feels like a complete waste of breath and energy because you’re not going to accept the quote. And you know that you have to go through it all over again with a different company.

But, there are occasions when it’s totally worth the time you’ve spent telling a relative stranger all sorts of personal info. That particular moment of joy can be pinpointed as the instant you’re presented with a quote for a super cheap premium and excess.

While it might feel like you’re handing over everything a stalker would want to know about you, these details are vital to creating an accurate quote for you. It forms the very basis of your unique policy, which is the thing that explains what’s covered, how much will be paid out, the limits, and the exclusions.

Let’s talk about updating your info

This is actually really important. Whenever you move jobs, or homes, or buy a new car, your details change. You’re obliged to update your insurer on any changes (no matter how immaterial you think they are), because this is how your insurer ensures that the various risk factors, unique to your car and home, are accurately covered.

Here’s a good example. If you make an alteration to your house and build a lock-up garage so you can avoid parking on the street or openly in your yard, then you should tell your insurer. Insurers view garages as the safer option, which reduces your risk, and results in a cheaper premium.

Here’s a bad example. Say you move all your home contents to a different address (affectionately called ‘moving house’) and you don’t update your insurer. A burglary happens and you claim for a stolen TV. It’s the same TV that you had in your previous home, so to your mind it might not matter. But it does matter. And your address is a big detail. Because you didn’t update your details, your insurer is perfectly within its rights to reject your claim.

This happens more often than you think.

Technically, it’s called non-disclosure

Ultimately, if any of the info your insurer has recorded on your policy isn’t accurate when you put in a claim, it’s highly likely that your claim will be rejected on the basis of non-disclosure.

Your policy is known as a contract of utmost good faith. Your insurer relies on you to tell the truth. If you don’t disclose all the facts, then you create a basis of non-disclosure. And on these grounds, your claim could be rejected.

Don’t lose track of how life evolves

Life is going to evolve. You’re going to move upwards and onwards and we couldn’t be happier for you! The last thing we want, is for you to have a negative claim experience because it slipped your mind to update your insurer about the bull bar you added to your car or the more expensive TV you’ve invested in.

Like a fine wine, your insurance policies should improve over time, closing up the gaps in your cover, so that you’ll be financially protected in the event of theft, accidents, or other nasties.

Get cover from an insurer who loves the sound of your voice

1 insurer who makes a big fuss about the details is King Price. Their motto is: incorrect details = incorrect cover and they actively encourage their royal clients to give them a ring or email them (if you haven’t got the time to talk) about any changes so that their claims are never jeopardised.

If you want cover from an insurer who values honesty and looks after your best interests like this, then click here for a home or car insurance quote.