Has something changed?
You may be buying a new motor vehicle or having an extension built on your property, exciting times, but spare a thought for your insurance policies. You have a duty to act with utmost good faith towards your insurer and must disclose all material changes, information, facts, and circumstances – generally known in the insurance world as ‘Material Facts’. A circumstance may be material even if disclosure would not necessarily lead to an increased premium or declinature of the risk.
Material fact (Association of British Insurers)
An important fact about you or your circumstances that would influence an insurer’s decision on whether to issue a policy and on what terms. Non-disclosure or misrepresentation of such facts can result in your policy being cancelled or your claim being declined.
Here is an example of some, but not and exhaustive illustration of material changes
- Changing the use of your vehicle (e.g. from pleasure to commuting to work, business use, or using the vehicle commercially)
- Additional drivers using your vehicle
- Sold / bought a vehicle
- Changed a vehicle registration plate from the original DVLA registration
- Making modifications or alterations to your vehicle
- Driving convictions
- A change in ownership of your property
- Sold or bought a premises
- New companies, acquisitions / partnerships
- Major renovations or additions to your home / business property
- Renting your home / your property being vacant
- A change / addition to your declared business activities
- Installed / increased security measures e.g. CCTV / Alarms / changes to fire protections
- Installed an automatic water sprinkler system
- Storage of hazardous materials / theft attractive stock
- Products exported to, or work in, overseas territories (particularly the USA or Canada)
- Work in or on hazardous locations such as offshore installations / Docks / Airports / Railways
- Corporate investigations / prosecutions
Insurance companies and their policies are not all the same, so always refer to your own insurance documents. We are here to help you and help you understand your insurance. If at any time you are unsure of anything regarding your insurance policy and the cover it provides, please do not hesitate to speak to us.