Home Insurance Forum

I have renters insurance. Now I am buying a house and am in search of homeowners policy. I really don't want to stay with my current carrier, because their service is poor. So I called Geico for a quote. They did not ask if I had any prior claims, so I did not say anything. While I was on hold, they checked both my credit and some service to see my claim history.

After this hold period they offered me a competitive price policy. The question is, I did have one prior claim (broken water pipe), do I legally have to tell them about this claim? It happened 2 -1/2 years ago. Or should I just assume that, since it did not come up in my report, I am okay not to mention it?

Steve, Virginia

Dear Steve,

It is illegal to lie about your claim history. However, if the insurance company doesn't ask, you don't have to tell. Chances are very good that they already know about that claim anyway. In fact, they probably know more about your credit and claim history than you do.

In addition, when it comes to homeowners insurance, it is rare for an insurance company to penalize a customer for having made a single claim. So even if Geico didn't know about your one claim, and found out about it, it would be unlikely that Geico would change their minds about agreeing to insure you, or change your rates. For more information, take a look at our story, One home insurance claim? Not a problem!

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