Money Help Desk: Insurers must be told of any accident

I RECENTLY had an accident while driving my employer's vehicle, causing damage to a parked vehicle. My fault entirely, no-one injured, no police involvement, only damage to the other vehicle. My employer's insurance company settled the claim.

When renewing my own private car insurance, am I required to disclose this accident to my insurers, bearing in mind that the accident did not involve my private car?

MC

Ian Crowder, insurance expert at the AA, writes:

You are certainly not alone in facing this dilemma. But I'm sorry to tell you that the short answer is "yes": you should indeed "come clean" and disclose the collision to your insurer when you come to renew your policy. This is because it is your driving history that's relevant to your insurer rather than the policy against which the claim was made.

Indeed, when you do renew, you will be specifically asked whether you have had any accidents regardless of whether a claim was made.

As with the example in this newspaper last week, your insurer may or may not increase your premium by a small amount to reflect the event, but even if it doesn't, it will rightly be kept on your record. Of course, had you been driving your own car at the time, it certainly would have resulted in a claim on your policy, loss of your excess and loss of some of your no-claim bonus (unless you have a protected no-claim bonus).