Non Disclosure and what to tell your insurer
What Information is important to initio
There are 2 main categories of information:
- Information relating to you, e.g. your insurance history, any claims made, any criminal convictions you have, if you have been bankrupt; and
- Information relating to your property e.g. if you have tenants in your house, if you live on a flood plain, any businesses that operate from the home.
What do you need to tell initio?
The policy application that you complete when you first take out insurance is used to collect the information that we need to know about you and your property. Insurance is a legal contract, and you must answer the questions truthfully.
Legally, you need to tell us about anything that could affect our decision to insure you or the terms and conditions you will be offered, even if we don’t specifically ask the question. For example, if a previous insurer had put terms on your policy, like a higher excess or not provided cover for burglary, we would want to know about this.
Why do you need to tell initio this information?
In order to properly assess the risk of insuring your property (and you), we want to know as much as possible. As you have knowledge of the property you are insuring, we rely on you to share this information with us.
When do you need to give initio this information?
You need to disclose all information to initio when you arrange the policy. Changes or new disclosures must be advised every time the policy is renewed. If there have been major changes you should advise these when they happen.
What happens if you leave out information?
The consequences can be serious. Legally, your policy can be treated as though it never existed and your insurer can refuse to consider your claim. For example, if you did not disclosure that you had previously had your insurance cancelled because you had lodged a fraudulent claim, your new insurer could cancel your policy from inception, refund any premiums paid and refuse your claim.
If you forgot to tell us that you live in a 100 year flood zone, we wouldn’t cancel your policy. We would act as if we knew about it when you first took out insurance. That would mean applying the applicable flood endorsement and excess. So while some omissions can be serious, others can be easily resolved.
The Golden Rule
If in doubt, disclose, disclose, disclose.
How do you advise a disclosure?
With initio it couldn’t be easier. Send an email to the team and your policy will be updated to reflect your disclosure. It is as simple as that.