You may not recall the information you provided on your insurance application, but your insurance company does.  If you neglected to provide full and accurate responses to the questions on your application for insurance, you may not have insurance coverage. Insurance companies are allowed to void an insurance policy if the company finds that a there was a material misrepresentation made in the insurance application. [1] A material misrepresentation is defined as a misrepresentation, omission or concealment of fact that would have changed the insurance premium charged and/or caused the insurance company to decline coverage.  Whether you did or did not intend to omit information or mislead the insurance company is of no consequence.  The only issue is whether the information, if known, would have changed the insurance premium or caused the insurer to decline coverage.

Any inaccurate or incomplete response to the questions on your insurance application may constitute a material misrepresentation. The most common misrepresentation is the failure to list all of the people living in your residence.  Insurance companies do not have a certain period of time to discover or notify you of the material misrepresentation.  Typically insurers discover material misrepresentations once you make a claim for insurance coverage.   It is possible and very common for someone to pay insurance premiums for years only to have their insurance company void their insurance coverage once a claim is made.  A material misrepresentation can cause you to be uninsured when you need insurance the most.

Do not think you have insurance coverage, know you have insurance coverage.  If you are applying for insurance, answer all of the questions on the application completely.  Do not dismiss questions as being unimportant.  Do not believe a representative that tells you certain information is not necessary.  Provide all of the information requested on the insurance application.  Retain a copy of the insurance application and the business card of the insurance agent for your records.  Once you have insurance, review the insurance policy to make sure it accurately reflects the information you provided to the insurance company.  If not, notify the insurance company of the errors in writing.

If you already have insurance, request a copy of your insurance application from all of your insurance companies.  Review your responses.  If there is any information that is incomplete or has changed, send your insurance company a letter correcting or supplementing your insurance application.  These changes may result in your insurance premiums increasing or your insurance company declining coverage.  However, it is better to pay more or get new insurance than to have an insurance policy that may be voided.

[1] When the insurance company voids a policy, the insurance company will reimburse the insurance premiums paid, but they will not provide insurance coverage for the claim.  The value of the insurance coverage is often greater than the premium reimbursement.

– Aaryn Fuller, Esq., is an experienced personal injury attorney with Bogin, Munns, & Munns, P.A., a full service law firm with offices in Orlando, Clermont, Kissimmee, Deltona, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Melbourne, Gainesville, and Leesburg, Florida.  She welcomes questions and comments regarding the above and can be reached at afuller@boginmunns.com.

NO LEGAL ADVICE: This blog entry is not intended as legal advice nor should you consider it as such. It is intended only as general information.  You should not act upon this information without retaining professional legal counsel. Please keep in mind that merely subscribing to or reading this blog or otherwise contacting Bogin Munns & Munns, P.A. in the manner that you have will not establish an attorney-client relationship with our firm. Bogin Munns & Munns, P.A. cannot represent you until the firm knows there would not be a conflict of interest, and the firm determines that it is otherwise able to accept the engagement.