As a car owner with valid auto insurance coverage, you may have wondered if anyone could claim damages against your car insurance without you knowing it. Insurance and legal experts agree that even though it is extremely rare for anyone to claim on your insurance without your knowledge, it is still possible. So the consensus answer to whether anyone can claim on your auto insurance without you knowing is – yes and no!
Typically, the following situations may play out if you are (or are not) involved in an auto collision with another car:
- If you agree to be at fault for the collision, you are obliged to provide your auto insurance details to the other party to enable them can contact your insurance company for claims.
- Once the other party contacts your insurance provider for claims, your insurer must contact you to verify what happened before choosing to pay.
- If you perpetrate a hit-and-run collision – and so fail to provide your insurance details to your victim – the other party can still trace your insurance company to file for claims using your vehicle registration number.
- You may be targeted in an insurance claim fraud where your vehicle registration number is cloned and an accident scene staged to deceive your insurance company into paying damages.
- It is best to notify your insurer of any collision you are involved in before the aggrieved party contacts them; this will get them ready to deal with the situation, although it might impact your next premium.
So can someone claim on your car insurance without your knowledge? The answer is YES, but the possibility depends on your insurance company. Here then, are the situations where insurance frauds can be committed against your auto insurance policy:
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Your Insurance Provider Failed To Verify With You
About 95% of the time, your insurance company will contact you to verify what happened if a third party filed a claim against your auto policy. This is to enable them to evaluate the merit of the claim and carry out necessary investigations before deciding whether to pay the third party claimant. But your insurer is not mandated to verify with you, and there have been cases where they paid third party claimants without verifying with the policyholder – and this can happen in your case as well.
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You’re A Victim of Cloned Registration Insurance Scam
Criminals may target you for a cloned registration insurance scam. The criminals may clone your vehicle registration number and then stage an accident scene where you are at fault. The criminals may even orchestrate a crash against your car to obtain third-party testimonies and then claim repair costs.
They may then submit a claim to your insurance company – after using a Subject Access Request through the DVLA to obtain your personal details and that of your insurance company. Your insurance provider may be fooled into paying the claims if they failed to verify the claims with you.
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You’re Involved In A Genuine Collision
You may be involved in a slight collision and then settle the dispute with the aggrieved party at the scene of the mishap. But the other party may later decide to file claims and then reach out to your insurer.
Given the genuineness of the claim, the insurance provider may decide to pay the claim without contacting you first. While your insurer will most likely call you to determine the legitimacy of the third party insurance claim, they may choose not to and then proceed to settle the claim fast to forestall any lawsuit.
The Bottomline…
The chances of a third party obtaining insurance claim payments on your policy without your knowledge are pretty low – but not impossible. The reason for this is two-fold: you will have been obliged to provide the other party with your insurance details for potential claims in the event of a crash, and your insurance company will most likely contact you to verify any third party claims. But there is a slim chance that they would not call you to verify the claims and still pay on your behalf.
It is best to notify your insurer if you are involved in any collision with anyone – even though it only resulted in a minor dent or scratch. This might increase your premium at renewal, but it will position your insurance provider to dispute any third party claims. It is even illegal not to inform your insurer of any vehicular incident with a third party.
It is also best to inform the police if you believe you are a target or victim of a cloned registration insurance scam.