There were an estimated 2.3 million car insurance claims settled in 2023 (1). It is only natural to assume that a portion of those claims will be repudiated. Before we go any further, what does repudiation of a claim mean?

Repudiation, is a fancy way of saying your claim has been denied and you will not be paid out.

There are a whole host of reasons why a car insurance claim is rejected, including a mechanical failure, electrical failure, an item being claimed for is not insured or you may be in breach of your conditions of insurance.

Conditions can include the requirement to keep your vehicle in a roadworthy condition, to have a valid MOT and to be taxed, but to find out what conditions your insurer imposes on you, check your policy. Clients have previously had their claims rejected on the basis that their tyres were below the legal limit, the vehicle had a pre-existing defect, a vehicle modificaiton had not previously been disclosed, windscreen wipers which did not operate or lights which did not operate.

Whilst it might be a condition of insurance to have a vehicle in a roadworthy condition, recent verdicts from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) have suggested that in order to reject a claim, the defect identified needs to have in some way contributed to the collision or incident occurring.

If your insurane claim has been rejected, contact us today to see whether we can assist you. We provide forensic vehicle inspections which can help determine whether a vehicle was defective, whether that defect existed prior to the collision, and what, if any, part it played in the incident resulting in the loss.

(1) - https://www.cityam.com/car-insurance-claims-payouts-hit-a-record-1-1m-an-hour-in-2023/

(2) - https://motorclaimguru.co.uk/how-to-deal-with-a-repudiated-claim-by-your-insurance-company#:~:text=Some%20times%20an%20insurer%20may,advising%20your%20claim%20is%20repudiated%3F