One in four of us lie when taking out car insurance

With the rising cost of motor insurance, it makes sense to minimise our premium, perhaps by steering clear of high insurance group cars, taking the Pass Plus test, and always using a price comparison website.

It seems, however, that many of us do not keep the legal consequences in mind when attempting to save money. Instead, according to research carried out by insurance.co.uk, 26% of us lie on our proposal forms. These lies range from distorting the truth about where the car is kept overnight, or the annual mileage, to far more serious matters such as concealing penalty points or giving a false address.

Despite this statistic, 98% of us see ourselves as upright honest citizens, regarding this sort of offence as a type of white lie. Far from being a victimless crime, the costs to the insurance industry are passed on to the honest driver to the tune of around £30 a year. Furthermore, what we do not seem to understand is that, by falsifying information on insurance applications, we are invalidating our insurance cover. Not many of us would risk driving around uninsured and yet this is what we are in effect doing. If we are involved in an accident and our proposal is found to be incorrect, our insurance policy becomes worthless, leaving us in a serious predicament.

Statistically speaking, men are worse than women when it comes to telling lies on their proposal forms and the unfortunate residents of Brighton and Birmingham hold the title of being the most dishonest – at least in this respect – in the UK. As far as age profile goes, young drivers under 25 are the worst offenders – perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the price of their premiums – with the most “popular” lie being told about where they keep their car at night.