According to research by the Motor Insurance Bureau, an estimated 10% of UK motorists lie to their insurer when buying car insurance in an attempt to get a cheaper quote. Now specialist insurer Admiral Car Insurance is warning drivers to tell the truth or risk losing cover.

Whilst the magnitude of lies people tell their insurer varies, anyone who is found out risks having their insurance cancelled. Like other insurers, Admiral cancels hundreds of policies every year because they discover policyholders have lied when buying their motor insurance.

Managing director at Admiral, Sue Longthorn, said: "Some motorists think that by telling a small lie they can get a cheaper quote. In reality they are committing fraud. An insurance policy is a legal contract so its vital that you are honest, or that contract can be claimed invalid and cancelled."

Admiral has compiled a list of the five most common ways people fib to their insurers:

• Not declaring motoring convictions. This is by far the most common reason why policies are cancelled. Drivers with convictions tend to be poor drivers and so pay more for their insurance. You must tell your insurer if you have had a motoring conviction of any kind in the last five years.


• Not disclosing car modifications. Modifications to a car that affect its performance or appearance changes the insurance risk. Any modifications made to your car by you or a previous owner must be declared to avoid invalidating your cover.


• Insuring a young driver's car in the name of an older driver. Also known as 'fronting' this usually involves a parent insuring their child?s car. Younger drivers are a higher risk for insurance companies because they are generally less experienced and have more accidents.


• Undeclared claims. An insurer needs to know your insurance history including any accidents or claims you have had in the previous three years, even if the claim was settled or wasn?t your fault.


• Incorrect driving licences. Only certain types of driving licence are acceptable to some insurers. Most will only accept full licences from the EU and a few other countries. If you only have a provisional licence you must declare this to your insurer and make sure you have a named driver with a full licence on your policy.

Sue Longthorn, said: "Insurance companies have become much better at finding out if motorists are lying, and we have a number of ways of investigating anyone we think might not have told the truth. We are not trying to catch people out, but people must realise they have to be honest with their insurer. They might think a little white lie is harmless, but it could end up costing them a lot more in the long run."