How not to invalidate your car insurance
Car insurance, it might be frustrating and expensive but it’s also required by law, so making sure everything on your car insurance schedule is accurate is vital in order to avoid an expensive mistake.
Insurance quote forms are often long and detailed and after a few years of renewing your insurance, it can be easy to go into auto-pilot when filling them in but it’s important to double check them every time.
In order to help you stay insured and not find yourself in a sticky situation if you need to make a claim, we’ve put together a list of anything which might invalidate your car insurance.
1. Be honest – fibbing when you get your car insurance quote may not seem like a big deal but not correcting those fibs and misrepresenting yourself on your insurance policy is a huge deal. Knowingly presenting us with the wrong information could lead to a cancelled policy, or even worse, your policy being made completely void!
2. The wrong address – let us know where your car will be overnight and keep it there. Every night! Of course we know you’ll use your car to go on overnight trips and that’s fine but you need to let us know where the car will be the majority of the time during the policy term and if this changes you need to inform us
3. No brokers – Diamond do not use the services of brokers so if you get a Diamond quote from a broker, then you should run for hills. You’ll only find Diamond quotes by calling us on 0800 118 1633, entering your details on Diamond.com or through a comparison website
4. Don’t let just anyone drive – you the policyholder and anyone named on your policy is fine to use your car but don’t let anyone else drive. Although another driver can use your car if they have the driving other cars extension on their car insurance policy, just bear-in-mind, if they were to get into an accident, we wouldn’t be able to pay out for damage to your car. Only drivers named on certificate are fully covered to drive your car
5. Take care of it – this doesn’t just mean cleaning out all the empty bottles and fast food wrappers once-a-month (though that would probably be quite good too) you should also keep your car well maintained. Regularly inspect it and if there’s anything you’re unsure of book it into a garage and get it checked out. Also, drive it carefully – reckless driving could lead to a cancelled policy
6. Drop us a line – you don’t need to send us your holiday snaps but do keep us updated of any changes to your situation relevant to your policy. Your insurance policy booklets have all the information you need about what you need to keep us up-to-date on
7. We need to know about any bumps – no matter how small or insignificant it may seem we need to know about any incidents you may have been involved in. A small incident we aren’t told about could cause problems in the future if you were then in a larger accident and the damage was inconsistent because of previous damage
8. Work out how far you’ll be travelling – if you fill out your insurance quote form and think your estimated mileage sounds a bit low, take the time to work it out before you set your policy up. If you put down that you only do 3,000 miles-a-year but travel at least 40-a-day you’re probably underestimating. Declaring a false mileage could result in an increased premium, affect your ability to claim or even invalidate your insurance
9. Get the class of use right – social use only doesn’t cover you to commute to work! If you drive to work every day you would need to take out social and commuting use, this also applies if you just drive to the train station each morning. If you use your car during the working day, whether driving to different sites or meetings, you’ll need business use. Some occupation and car combinations may not even be covered by business use, we don’t cover delivery drivers for example
10. Keep things simple – for some, their car is their pride and joy so it’s no wonder they like to spend time adding things here and there, try not to add too much though. Not all modifications are allowed by Diamond so you must list them in detail on your quote to make sure we’re able to offer cover to your car with that modification. This also applies to optional extras, like the salt, chilli or pepper packs on MINIs
11. Stick to sensible roads – the Nürburgring is not a sensible road so therefore, the minute you drive on to it your policy with Diamond fails to be active. Likewise, if you decide to take part in a rally, or any organised motorsport even, Diamond won’t pay out for any claim you make as a result of this To stay on the safe side if there’s anything you’re unsure of with your insurance policy have a read through Your Car Insurance Guide or call a member of our Customer Services team to check.