All there is to know about Car Insurance?

Vehicle insurance (also known as auto insurance, car insurance, motor insurance, private motor insurance or commercial motor insurance) is insurance purchased by private individuals or companies for cars, vans, trucks, and other road vehicles.
UK Law (defined by The Road Traffic Act) requires that all vehicles designed to be driven on the public highway are insured and at least have cover in respect of Third Party damage or injury, including Liability to passengers. This means that it is a punishable offence to drive a vehicle on the Public Highway (or other public place) without Third Party Insurance.

Most people (i.e. individuals or companies) would want to insure their vehicle or vehicles for more than just the bare minimum and so they can choose cover for Third Party Fire and Theft which would cover damage caused by Fire and Theft (or attemted Theft) in addition to Third Party damage; or Comprehensive cover which also covers your own accidental damage.

There are a number of specialisms within the overall field of motor insurance - for more detailed information as to some of these areas you can look at our pages for ladies motor insurance, young driver insurance, classic car insurance, mature driver insurance or student motor insurance.

There are lots of different factors that may affect how Insurers will rate (i.e. decide on the premium that they offer) an individual risk and this is why quotes can vary so wildly. However in all cases there is a duty of disclosure upon the individual or company making a proposal for insurance and this requires that they disclose all relevant information to Insurers. This relates to things such as previous accidents or claims, known medical conditions, criminal convictions and insolvency/bankruptcy.

If in any doubt as to whether something is material it is advisable to disclose it as it is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to make any false statements or withhold any relevant information in order to obtain a Certificate of Motor Insurance. On a less serious note but just an importantly; failure to disclose relevant information can lead to an insurer invalidating a policy and if this transpires at the time of a claim this may mean that the claim is repudiated (i.e. not paid out).

Sometimes non disclosures happen completely innocently and in these circumstances insurers may try to assist, depending on the circumstances and whether the information withheld would have affected the insurers decision to accept the risk (i.e. offer insurance to the individual or company). For more information about duty of disclosure please the Financial Services Authority`s website for consumers.