Chris Patterson: Barrister unpacks driver's dispute with insurance company after claim denied for drinking

A driver who scraped another car with his vehicle while leaving a bar carpark has had an insurer's decision to turn down his claim on the basis he had been drinking overturned.

The claim was initially denied because the insurer said the driver was 'under the influence' - but he argued two handles of beer was hardly inebriated. 

Barrister Chris Patterson says there's a lesson that can be taken from this.

"If you've been wronged, then it's worth taking the insurance company on. If you know that the insurance company's on good grounds because the grounds they gave you are fair and you accept them - it's probably not worth taking them on."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now a man goes to the bar, has a few drinks,
comes out, prings another car, and then tries to claim insurance.
He's only had two beers. His insurance claim has declined
on the basis that he was under the influence of alcohol. Now,
the claim was initially declined because he was under the influence,
but was he appeared He says, I just had two beers,

(00:23):
was hardly inebriated, and he volunteered this to the insurance company.
By the way, went to a dispute and he won.
So in the end the insurance did have to pay.
But how many people are missing out on unjust claim rejections.
Barrister Chris Patterson with US tonight.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Hi Chris, Hey, Hi Ryan.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
First of all, what's the deal with booze and insurance?

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Okay, so this is all about the wording in the
insurance policy. You know, if you're someone who reads the
insurance policy, there's good. If you're someone who doesn't, then
you take a little bit of a risk. The insurance
policy says no booze, and you've been drinking booze, you're
avoiding your policy and they can decline cover if your

(01:05):
policy says that you can't be impaired. Then the owner
sits on the insurance company. They've got to prove if
they're going to decline a claim that a couple of
bears made you an impaired driver. Easy if they've got
a breath test because you've been pulled over and you're
over the limit. Not so easy if you just say
you've had a couple of bears during the course of

(01:26):
an afternoon and your tolerance levels pretty high.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Can they make you do a breath test or some
kind of test. I guess it wouldn't depend on when
you report the accident, wouldn't it.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, Look, they can't make you do the test, And
you're right, it's going to depend on when you report
the excitent I mean, if you're reporting it several days later,
it's probably not going to be particularly relevant. But they
can't make you do a test. But usually it's all circumstances.
So in the case that the story is about, they
managed to get the insurance bank account details and saw

(02:00):
how many beers he was buying at the bar, and
there was a dispute about how many bears he actually drank.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Hey, what about the general rules here or lesson here?
For the rest of us. Should we Should you always
fight if you get rejected from an insurance them? Should
you always fight? I mean, how often do people actually
win this stuff?

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah? Well, look, I think the starting point is, you know,
do you feel like you've been wronged? If you've been wronged,
then yeah, it's worth taking insurance company on if you
know that the insurance companies on good grounds, because the
grounds they gave you a fear and you accept them,
Probably not always taking them on over it. So each case,

(02:42):
dear why cats by cass all.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Right, Chris, Well, I just basically won't drink and drive.
That's that's the moral of the story, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Look that's the easy one. The other moral of the
story is, know what the exclusions are in your insurance policy.
If I drinking any boozeres it will exclude liability, don't
drink anything at all.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
If it's an impairment then yeah, you are taking a risk.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Yeah, appreciate your time, Chris, Thanks so much. Chris Patterson,
barrister working in insurance disputes. For more from Heather Duplessy
Allen Drive, listen live to News Talks dB from four
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