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DRIVERS who deliberately fail to give details of previous claims and convictions or give incorrect details when taking out car insurance could be uninsured without realising.
elephant.co.uk, the Internet-based motor insurer, is now using advanced software to combat drivers who lie about their driving history in a bid to stamp out the fraudsters and keep the cost of car insurance down for our honest policyholders.
Underwriting and Fraud Controller Andrew Evans said: "Some dishonest people will lie and say they have no previous claims or driving convictions. This is even more prevalent over the Internet where people think they are less likely to be caught.
"We come across cases every day where people have withheld an appalling driving history and we find out about it when we access shared databases with other insurers, or when a customer fills in a licence history mandate."
The penalties for non-disclosure of claims and convictions can range from having to pay additional premium to complete cancellation of the policy in more serious cases.
This means a proportion of motorists who deliberately fail to disclose their past could be driving without insurance despite believing they are covered.
Another common scam is for younger motorists to insure the vehicle in a parent's name and put themselves on the policy as a named driver although they are the main user and owner of the vehicle. This is known as 'fronting'.
Andrew added: "This is one of the easiest to spot. Obviously the driver does not have the correct level of insurance as the vehicle is insured under a different driver's name.
"This is a classic example of someone who is driving around Britain's roads without proper insurance."
Andrew said finally: "Drivers who purposely lie to gain a cheaper quote push up the price for everyone in the end. At elephant.co.uk we will do everything we can to make sure our honest motorists don't end up paying for the dishonesty of others."
Issue date: 29-09-05
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