Breakdown Cover Articles

Drink Driving - and Other Ways to Invalidate your Cover

Let's face it drink driving is a crime and one that deserves punishment in the eyes of the law. Driving a car whilst under the influence of alcohol, no matter what the extenuating circumstances, is irrational and selfish, with too many people being left to contemplate the error of their ways, either by sitting in a prison cell, or ruing the injuries and possibly loss of life caused by a moment or two of their irresponsible behaviour. Nowadays car drivers don't need to be caught driving a car whilst under the influence of alcohol it is enough to be found with a set of car keys in their possession whilst over the legal limit to earn a lengthy ban.

And when the ban is over, the search for insurance cover will be a long and painful one as insurance companies are very inclined to bump up their rates considerably if not inappropriately to someone who has been handed down a ban for drunk driving. And rightly so.

Driving while drunk is inexcusable and if asked, most people usually are aware of the terrible act they have committed and are neither angry, surprised nor bitter that their insurance premium has jumped so high, and will remain high for years to come. They are well aware that the damage could have been a lot worse.

Strange though it may seem, drunk driving is not the most common reason that people lose their driving cover. The most common is through being banned for speeding, dangerous driving, driving through stop signs, traffic lights as well as a variety of other offences most of them less serious by nature.

As in the case of drunk driving, being banned automatically means that all car insurance cover is suspended for the person who is banned. It does not automatically mean that the car that person drives cannot be driven on public roads, just the person who has been banned, even if they are the policy holder.

However there are circumstances where insurance cover for a vehicle can be invalidated, either temporarily or permanently. The reasons are that the policy holder has either failed to provide correct information when requesting or not provided information at all on certain very relevant sections of their policy.

Failure to declare previous driving convictions and thus substantially reducing premiums is an act that is frowned on considerably by insurance companies, as is the failure to disclose previous claims. False information in any format means that the policy is invalid, and there is little room for discussion. The only step is to cancel the policy and re-write a new one taking into account the updated information.

Another even more unpleasant possibility is when the insurers decide to invalidate an insurable policy and not to pay out on a claim when the car insured has been involved in an accident, if the driver was not among the named and approved list of drivers. That is why as soon as someone in your family passes their test, even though it costs a lot, you should either insure them to drive or invest in a good set of ear plugs.

Other minor factors that may cause an insurance company to invalidate car insurance cover is if personal information details have not been updated within a reasonable space of time. While this may seem unreasonable, let's say for example that you decide to move, for whatever the reason, to an area where car theft is 80% higher than it was in the place where you lived previously. One day you wake up to find your car gone, and your insurance broker shaking their head. Another less obscure reason that your insurance company will almost certainly decide not to pay out on a claim is if you are involved in a car accident when your MOT certificate is out of date. No excuses will be entertained and you will be severely out of pocket.

Speaking of out of pocket, the best and most efficient way to have your insurance cover revoked is not to pay your premium. Insurance companies will give a period of grace, especially for long term clients. However eventually they will have no option but to cancel your policy.

Bear these facts in mind, act responsibly and your car insurance will always remain valid.

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