Since 6 April 2013, a consumer buying insurance has one legal duty when answering the insurer’s questions: to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation. That comes from section 2 of the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012. You no longer have to volunteer everything that might be relevant, but you do have to answer what is asked honestly and carefully, and staying silent when an insurer asks you to confirm or correct information can itself count as a misrepresentation.

Most declined claims that make people angry trace back to this duty, not to small print. The question was asked, the answer was wrong, and the policy behaved accordingly.

What the law actually asks of you

Before 2013, insurance law expected consumers to disclose every material fact, whether asked or not, a standard almost nobody met. The 2012 Act replaced that for consumers: the insurer must ask, and your job is to take reasonable care that your answers are accurate and complete.

Reasonable care is judged by the standard of a reasonable consumer in your circumstances. Guessing when you could check, skimming questions, or letting an assumption ride at renewal are the ordinary ways people fall short of it.

What happens if an answer was wrong

The consequences turn on how the misrepresentation came about. Where it was deliberate or reckless, the insurer can treat the policy as if it never existed and refuse the claim. Where it was merely careless, the remedy is proportionate to what would have happened had the answer been right: the insurer may pay a reduced claim reflecting the premium that should have been charged, apply the terms it would have imposed, or, if it would never have offered the policy at all, unwind it and return the premium.

An honest and careful answer that simply turns out to be wrong is not a misrepresentation at all. The duty is reasonable care, not clairvoyance.

Renewal is where it goes wrong

At renewal the insurer typically sends the information it holds and asks you to confirm or correct it. Under the Act, failing to respond to that request can amount to a misrepresentation. The house that became unoccupied, the loft conversion, the new business run from home, the claim made against another policy: renewal is the moment those need saying.

Answering hard questions on non-standard risks

For flood history, subsidence, past claims, convictions and cancelled policies, the temptation is to soften the answer because the truthful one makes cover harder to find. That trade is always bad: the difficult truth priced by a specialist insurer is real cover, while the easy answer is a policy that fails at the only moment it matters. The practical fix is not a softer answer, it is a better market, which is what a broker is for.

Common questions

Do I have to volunteer information the insurer did not ask about?

For consumer insurance, the duty is to take reasonable care not to misrepresent when answering the insurer’s questions and requests. The old duty to volunteer every material fact no longer applies to consumers. Businesses buying insurance are under a different and stricter regime.

Can my insurer refuse a claim for an honest mistake?

If you took reasonable care and the answer was honestly wrong, that is not a misrepresentation under the Act. If the mistake was careless, the insurer applies a proportionate remedy rather than an automatic refusal. Deliberate or reckless answers are the ones that void policies.

What counts as reckless?

Answering without caring whether it was true. The line between careless and reckless is where many disputes are fought, which is why accurate answers at the start cost so much less than arguments at claim time.

Does this apply at renewal too?

Yes. The duty applies when you enter into or vary a consumer insurance contract, and failing to respond when the insurer asks you to confirm or correct information can itself be a misrepresentation.

What if the truthful answer makes me hard to insure?

Then the answer is a specialist market, not a softer answer. Non-standard risks such as flood, subsidence and unoccupancy are insurable through brokers, priced on the facts.

Related guides

This page is general information about the consumer duty under the 2012 Act, not legal advice, and it does not describe the terms of any particular policy.

Solar Insurance Services (Medway) Limited is registered in England and Wales, company number 05439438, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 459582.

Sources: Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, sections 2 and 4 and Schedule 1 (legislation.gov.uk).