While thousands of drivers choose to automatically renew their car insurance keeping their policy with the same insurer for many years, a motoring expert has warned that many drivers are unwittingly risking thousands of pounds in fines.
Research from one of the UK’s biggest price comparison websites found this week that almost 50 per cent of car owners had ‘fronted’ their car insurance policy, by claiming they are the main driver on their children’s policy.
Now James Baker at RegCarCheck, has revealed that there are a number of other ways that drivers can be caught out. Price comparison websites are perhaps the worst culprits for encouraging the fraud, as they save your details from your last search 12 months ago, and how many of us change the details, even if circumstances have changed?
In an era when many of us might have a delivery job as a side hustle, Baker has warned that a wrong answer to the question ‘how is your vehicle being used?’could land you in hot water.
“6.49million Brits maintain a side hustle,” Baker said. “Using your car to deliver parcels, as part of a food delivery service or even to gather the products needed to aid in the workings of your side hustle, counts towards using your car for work purposes.
“Masking this from your insurance holds the potential to invalidate your insurance if you are required to declare the purpose of your journey when the accident occurred.”
Another common question, which some might not answer honestly, is the query on where you keep your car at night. The difference between keeping it in a locked garage and a public road is significant for the insurers, particularly as many vehicle thefts come at night.
Baker said: “It may be tempting to state that your car is kept in a potentially securer place than it is however, if it’s stolen from a place that is near your property, but not where you stated, your insurance provider can potentially invalidate your claim.”
Other areas where a dishonest answer could lead to problems are declaring your annual mileage incorrectly, the aforementioned fronting, fibbing about points on your licence, and not telling the truth about your job.