Lies in car insurance: Incorrect information in car insurance – possible consequences | message

news-container">When taking out car insurance, drivers often have to put up with a lot of questions. Who is driving the car? How old are the drivers? How many kilometers are covered in a year? When answering these questions, many find themselves in an inner conflict: On the one hand, the questions should be answered as precisely and truthfully as possible, on the other hand, discounts can easily be achieved with car insurance through incorrect information. Because the annual insurance premium to be paid is lower if the insurance classifies the risk of an accident as “low”.

For example, if you do not state your 18-year-old son and novice driver as a co-user of the car to be insured, you can save up to 30 percent of the annual premium with some car insurance companies. Parking in a garage at night or driving less than 8,000 kilometers a year can easily lead to lower insurance premiums. However, anyone who unknowingly or willfully provides false information when concluding a contract must expect considerable consequences.

Incorrect information will be punished with up to 1,000 euros

The North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center examined what that means in a sample survey of ten insurance companies. All insurance companies agreed on one thing: All participating companies stated that they would retrospectively calculate the wrongly saved amount in the following insurance year. It also happens, according to the consumer advice center, that insurance companies increase “the contractually agreed deductible” by 500 euros if, for example, a driver who is not entered in the contract has caused an accident. You can expect an even higher penalty if you deliberately provided false information when concluding the contract. If this is noticed, some insurance companies reserve the right to demand contractual penalties of up to 1,000 euros or to double the insurance premium in the following insurance year.

Control of customers through workshop invoice or accident report

Anyone who thinks that false information and “cheating” in most cases go undetected anyway is wrong, according to the consumer advice center. Because when a customer reports damage, the information in the contract is checked first. From the police accident report it is easy to infer who the real driver was and where the accident happened. Incorrect information about the driver therefore makes little sense. The insurance companies also check the repair and workshop invoices for the car in the event of damage – the mileage can thus be easily checked. Some car insurance companies also conduct random surveys of their customers.

Insurance cover remains in place despite everything

In spite of knowingly or unknowingly false information, at least one thing is guaranteed with all of the insurance companies surveyed: In the event of damage, the motorist’s insurance cover remains in place, even if the customer “cheated” when the contract was concluded. In this respect, the polluter has no consequences to fear; In such a case, however, the insured person is not protected against subsequent termination of the contract.

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