Posted by 
So, you know when you’re taking out a new insurance policy on your bike and the insurance company asks you lots and lots of questions, how relevant are they and how important is it that you answer them honestly and correctly?
Well, the answer in simple terms, is very important. You need to come with “clean hands” and answer all the questions honestly so the insurer can assess the risk they are going to insure and in turn set the premium at the correct price.
The proposal form forms the basis of the contract between you and the insurance company. This document is relied upon by insurers and their legal advisors in determining the risk. This concerns the matter of material information and full disclosure of activities, claims history and the like.
The insurance company must ask every question that it wishes to receive an answer to, leaving the onus of questions to be answered and questions not to be answered entirely with the insurance company. In other words, you do not have to think about what should be volunteered and what shouldn’t be volunteered. If an insurance company does not ask a question, then you do not have to volunteer any such information.
When filling out insurance proposal forms, you must provide complete, accurate and honest information. If the insurance company asks you a question, you must answer it honestly. If you answer the question dishonestly or recklessly, then the policy can be voided and/or they can reject your claim if you make one at a later date.
Example questions you may be asked are:
- Have you had an accident in the last five years?
- Have you ever been refused insurance?
- Have you had any claims or convictions in the last five years?
You should give accurate details of all previous insurance claims or incidents (whether you claimed or not).
State honestly if any insurer has ever declined, cancelled, or refused to renew your insurance, or imposed special terms.
Be forthcoming about any criminal records or relevant legal disputes.
Another question the insurer may ask is ‘Do you want cover for pillion riders?’
If you say no, and you are involved in an accident whilst carrying a pillion, your insurer may have to pay out for the pillion’s claim. However, as you were not covered for pillion cover, your insurer may then come after you personally for the money they had to pay out.
Even if you only ever take a pillion occasionally, it might be worth saying yes to pillion cover and then you are covered for that just in case moment!
Another example, if you have a policy that covers you for riding for social, domestic and pleasure and you have ridden your motorbike to work and it gets stolen from your place of work, because you didn’t say you were commuting, then you are likely not covered.
When you initially took out the policy, you may not have been commuting to work at that time but, as we all know, circumstances have a habit of changing, ie. your car has been written off. In this circumstance, if you now need to ride your bike to work, you need to inform your insurance company of this change to the policy.
If you take out the policy and say your bike is kept in a garage overnight and then you move address and you no longer have a garage, you need to inform the insurance company of this change.
Have you made any modifications to your bike? Have you added a power commander to your bike? If so, you need to declare this to your insurance company as something like this could add extra power to your bike and your claim could be refused. It may indeed be the case that the insurance company would not have covered you initially had they been aware of this modification.
If you buy a bike and are not aware of a modification that has been made and your bike gets stolen/recovered and it is found that a modification has been made and not declared, you would have to show to the insurance company it was more likely than not that you did not know about this and it would fall into the innocent mistake category which doesn’t get punished in the same way that dishonesty or recklessness gets punished.
Before you submit the proposal form make sure you check it beforehand to make sure all the information you have provided is correct.
If during the course of the policy there have been any changes in circumstances, perhaps you have moved home or you have been accused and convicted of a crime (this also includes driving without due care and attention) your insurers will want to know this.
Another thing to inform your insurance company is if you sell your bike, you need to inform them straightaway that you have sold your bike so it can be taken off risk.
If the new buyer doesn’t bother with insurance and they are involved in an accident and cause significant damage and injuries, if you haven’t informed your insurance company that you have sold the bike, then the insurance is still in place insured on the bike.
You have therefore allowed the new owner to ride the bike on your existing policy and your insurance company has to meet the claim for the injured party but, because you were not riding the bike and you allowed the new rider to ride the bike, the insurance company can come after you personally to meet the claim!
So, in simple terms, it is super important to answer the insurance company questions honestly and correctly and to inform them of any changes or if you sell the bike during the term of the policy.
BK
#realbikersreallawyersrealanswers #callusbeforewecallyourinsurer