Previous claims are past claims, losses or reported incidents that may affect your quote, terms, no-claims bonus or cover.
Previous claims are claims, losses or reported incidents from the past. They can relate to car, van, home or landlord insurance.
They may include accidents, theft, fire, flood, escape of water, subsidence, storm damage, personal injury or liability claims. A previous claim does not always mean the insurer paid out.
The Claims and Underwriting Exchange, often called CUE, can include motor, home, personal injury and industrial illness incidents. This can include incidents that did not lead to a paid claim.
Insurers use claims history to help assess risk. The ABI explains that insurers use a range of information when setting prices, and each insurer may use this information in a different way. This is part of how insurance pricing works.
A previous claim may affect:
The impact can depend on the insurer, the policy and the full claims history. One claim may be treated differently from several claims. The claim type, cost, date and whether it was fault or non-fault can also matter.
When you buy or renew a consumer insurance policy, you need to take reasonable care not to give wrong or incomplete information. The Financial Ombudsman Service explains how insurers and customers should approach misrepresentation and non-disclosure.
In simple terms, you should answer the insurer’s questions honestly and as fully as you can. The ABI says insurers should ask clear questions, and customers should answer those questions correctly when buying or renewing cover. You can read more about what the Consumer Insurance Act means for customers.
If you are unsure whether something counts as a claim or reported incident, it is usually safer to check with the insurer or broker before you buy or renew.
If an insurer later finds a missing or incorrect claim, it may say the information given was wrong or incomplete.
The outcome can vary. The Financial Ombudsman Service says an insurer may charge more, apply a restriction, reduce a claim, decline a claim or cancel the policy, depending on the facts and what the insurer would have done with the correct information. This is covered in its guidance on insurance misrepresentation and non-disclosure.
This does not mean every mistake leads to the same result. The insurer should consider whether the customer took reasonable care and whether the missing information would have changed its decision.
For car and van insurance, a claim can reduce your no-claims bonus. It may also affect the cost of your next premium.
MoneyHelper explains that no-claims bonus protection does not mean your premium will stay the same after a claim. It only protects the discount, subject to the policy terms. You can read more about protecting your no-claims bonus.
For home insurance, a claim may also affect future premiums, excesses or policy terms. MoneyHelper explains that home insurers check whether an event is covered and how much they will pay, and that customers usually pay an excess towards a claim. This is part of the wider guidance on home insurance.
We arrange insurance for people whose circumstances may not fit a standard online quote.
For car insurance, We may be able to help drivers with previous claims, convictions or other non-standard circumstances, subject to insurer criteria.
For home insurance, we may be able to help where there have been previous claims, flood risk, subsidence, renovation work or an unoccupied property. We also arrange landlord insurance for let properties, subject to the policy terms.
We are an insurance broker. We arrange insurance through insurers, so cover, price and acceptance can vary. We may ask for full details of previous claims so insurers can assess the risk fairly and give terms based on accurate information.
Previous claims are past claims, losses or reported incidents that insurers may consider when quoting, renewing or checking cover.
They can affect the premium, excess, policy terms and no-claims bonus. The impact will depend on the insurer, the policy and the details of the claim. Answer questions carefully and ask for help if you are unsure what to declare.
