Shocking new research has found that four fifths of all drivers in Britain may have invalidated their car insurance by lying, often unintentionally. Here are the things people fib about the most…

An incredible 83% of drivers in Britain have told an untruth on their car insurance policies, with over half surveyed not realising that lying about things such as their annual mileage, or their vehicle purpose can effectively make their policy worthless. The findings were made by www.vouchercodespro.co.uk, who specialise in online voucher codes and deals, who surveyed 2,513 Britons aged 18 and over who had held a full driving licence for a minimum of two years.

Asked initially what people considered the most expensive aspect of driving, 28% responded with the answer ‘car insurance’. But a much more worrying statistic was about to be revealed when people were asked if they had knowingly lied on their insurance application to keep the cost of their policy down. Here, a staggering 83% answered ‘yes’.

When given a list of possible responses, 48% said they had lied about the purpose of the car (eg, social/commuting), 41% had lied about their estimated annual mileage, 29% about where their vehicle was kept overnight, 20% about vehicle modifications and 7% about previous accidents, incidents and claims. Unbelievably, 57% who lied when filling out an insurance application form didn’t realise that lying or failure to disclose something may have invalidated their policy. More shocking still was the fact that when asked if knowing this would make them contact their insurer to resolve the situation, 69% stated that ‘no’ they wouldn’t, as they weren’t anticipating an accident or a need to claim on their insurance.

Needless to say, insurers will have the right to inspect a vehicle following a claim and if the details don’t tally with the description on the insurance application, the owner could, quite rightly, have their claim turned down – and even be refused cover in the future as a result. So at the end of the day, spinning a bit of a yarn or failing to disclose the truth will give insurers the wiggle room to refuse to make any kind of payout in the event of an accident, theft or other incident.

Obviously the way to avoid all this is to be totally honest and entirely open with your insurer. When it comes to modifications, it’s always best to be upfront with what you’ve done, even if it’s just down to the fact that you’ve fitted different wheels. After all, this could instantly make your vehicle more appealing to a thief – putting up the risk of it being stolen. The same goes for mechanical upgrades; if you’ve tweaked the engine, brakes or suspension, your insurer should know about it. As long as you tell the truth in the first place, you might be surprised by just how sympathetic insurance companies can be. Bear in mind, there are a lot of older cars that have had sympathetic upgrades carried out on them so there may not be any increase in premium. Or if there is, it is likely tol be marginal and certainly worth the peace of mind it offers being honest and avoiding any risk of having your claim kicked out completely.

Ian

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage