General Accident

General Accident is a car and home insurance brand that now sits inside Aviva. Policies are sold at two levels of cover, Comprehensive or Third Party, Fire and Theft, with optional add-ons on top, and the brand is no longer used for new policies, so anything held under the General Accident name is run by Aviva and renewals are issued in Aviva's name¹.

For a policyholder, the practical questions are Aviva's questions: what your cover includes, how your renewal is priced, how to reach the team, and where to complain. A renewal invite should arrive at least 21 days before the policy renewal date, and complaints go to Aviva first, then to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the answer or eight weeks pass without one³.

General Accident car insurance: two levels of cover and optional add-ons

Car insurance is the product most people associate with the General Accident name. Policies are sold at two levels, Comprehensive or Third Party, Fire and Theft, and the choice is made when the quote is taken out². On top of the base cover, optional add-ons are available, and these are where the differences between one policy and another usually sit.

Motor Injury Protection Plus is one example. It provides £120,000 of cover for the policyholder, their partner or any named drivers in the event of serious injury or death resulting from an accident in the insured car, and it is available on comprehensive cover only². A lower level of motor injury protection, at £5,000 per person per policy year, is included within comprehensive cover for the policyholder, their partner or named drivers⁶.

Personal accident cover of this kind is common across the market rather than unique to one brand. Standard levels of cover typically range between £1,000 and £10,000, and cover can be enhanced to as much as £150,000⁷. All but one of the policies analysed in one review provided some level of this cover as standard, though cover levels can vary by tens of thousands of pounds⁷.

Accidental damage is the other add-on worth understanding. It is usually an optional extra rather than a standard part of a policy, and what is included varies between providers⁹. Where it is offered, it tends to be available to add to a standard policy for an additional premium¹⁰. For the full list of add-ons and what each costs, Aviva's own car insurance pages carry the current detail.

Comprehensive or third party, fire and theft: what each one covers

The two levels of cover build on each other. Third party only is the legal minimum: it covers you if you have an accident causing damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, but it does not cover any other costs such as repairs to your own vehicle¹¹. Third party, fire and theft adds protection against fire and theft of your own vehicle on top of that¹².

Comprehensive is the highest level. It covers you, your car and your passengers as well as any third parties involved in an accident, and it pays out if your car is vandalised or stolen¹². It also covers your vehicle if it is damaged in an accident¹².

Where third party, fire and theft does not cover you

The gaps in a third party, fire and theft policy are the reason many drivers pay more for comprehensive cover, and they are worth knowing before a claim rather than after one.

There is no cover for injuries to the policyholder or for accidental damage to your own car¹³. Uninsured driver cover is not included, and neither is motor injury protection². Windscreen cover is excluded as well¹⁴. If your car is written off in an accident, the policy will not provide money for a replacement or a new car¹⁵.

Weather is a further gap. If your insurance is third party only or third party, fire and theft, you will not be covered for storm or flood damage to your own car¹⁶. Drivers on basic third party or third party, fire and theft policies are unlikely to be offered any protection for weather damage¹⁶.

There is also a conduct point that applies across cover levels. Some insurers may refuse a claim if they believe you acted recklessly, for example by driving through flood water after warnings were issued¹⁶. A failure to report an accident to your insurer can give them the right to refuse to cover you in future¹⁷.

Protecting your no claim discount

A no claim discount is one of the largest single factors in what a renewal costs, and the rules around keeping it are specific.

If you claim for loss or damage through no fault of your own, such as an encounter with a pothole, a storm, flooding or an animal, you keep your no claim discount². No claim discount protection is a separate optional cover that protects your discount from one at-fault claim every year¹⁴.

You do not have to submit a claim to your insurer at all if you pay for repairs yourself or recover the cost from the other driver, and doing so is one way to preserve a no claim discount¹⁷. The trade-off is that you carry the cost in the meantime.

The Financial Ombudsman Service draws a distinction that matters here. A fault claim is recorded when an accident is either the driver's fault, or not the driver's fault but the cost cannot be claimed from another party¹⁸. Even a reported incident without a claim normally stays on your insurer's record and is recorded on the shared industry central database¹⁸. Where an insurer has unfairly accepted liability for an accident, the ombudsman can tell it to change the way the claim was recorded so the customer's current premium can be recalculated, refund extra money paid, and pay compensation for distress or inconvenience caused by poor customer service¹⁹.

How General Accident works out your price

Car insurance pricing is individual. Insurers weigh a range of factors, and claims history is one of the factors taken into account when calculating premiums²⁰. A claim can push premiums up at renewal, and you may lose any no claim discount²⁰.

Where a vehicle is stolen or damaged and the insurer pays out, it will usually pay its market value: the amount your vehicle would have been worth just before it was stolen or damaged²¹. That figure, not the price you paid for the car, is what a payout is based on.

Some pricing factors are specific to how you drive. Telematics or pay-as-you-drive policies price cover around measured driving behaviour, and high-risk drivers may face a premium increase, a specific one-off charge, or in the most serious cases cancellation of the policy, depending on the insurer²².

For anyone shopping around, the timing matters as much as the price. Making a note of when your policy is due for renewal and setting a reminder a few weeks before it ends gives time to compare before auto-renewal takes effect²³. Auto-renewal ties you in for another year, often at a higher price²³.

Renewal: your invite shows last year's price and next year's

A renewal invite should arrive at least 21 days before the policy renewal date³. It sets out what the next year of cover will cost, which is the point at which a policyholder can compare it with what else is available.

If you pay by Direct Debit and your policy is set to renew automatically, your bank account details transfer to Aviva and in most cases the policy continues to renew automatically³. Where a renewal date falls on or after 2 December 2025, the renewal is with Aviva³. Customers who choose not to share their personal information with Aviva will not receive a renewal invite and the policy will expire at the policy end date; a letter is sent before any data is shared³.

Renewal pricing is a common source of complaint. Consumer research in Northern Ireland put the average renewal rise at £148²⁴. A quarter of the car insurance policies looked at in one survey charged renewal fees, with some providers charging more than others²⁵. Where a renewal premium has been calculated on a claim that was recorded unfairly, the ombudsman can require the insurer to recalculate it¹⁹.

Who can get General Accident cover

Cover under the General Accident name is no longer sold to new customers, so eligibility questions now apply to Aviva's own policies. Aviva reserves the right to refuse cover²⁶.

There are legal limits on when a refusal is allowed. It is against the law for a company to refuse to insure you or offer worse terms because you are disabled²⁷. Beyond that, insurers can decline a risk, and they can also reduce or decline a claim, and may void a policy, where a customer would not have been insured at all on the information given²⁸.

Some products carry their own eligibility rules. Cover for driving other cars, for example, is for the vehicle policyholder only and not named drivers, and is not available on policies in the name of a business²⁹. Where a policy is arranged through an employer as a group accident policy, complaints about the sale of that policy have to be raised by the employer rather than the individual⁴.

General Accident is now a former Aviva trading name: what it means for policyholders

The change is administrative rather than a change of cover. General Accident appears on the FCA Register as a previous trading name of the firm behind Aviva's general insurance business, and the firm's current trading name is Aviva Risk Management Solutions¹. The same register entry lists Quotemehappy.com, AVO, CGU Insurance Plc and the older General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation names as previous names¹.

In practice, a policyholder with a General Accident policy deals with Aviva: Aviva's renewal invites, Aviva's claims teams, Aviva's complaints process and Aviva's policy management pages³. The insurer behind the cover is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, and appears on the Bank of England's list of UK insurers authorised to carry out contracts of insurance⁵.

The firm behind Aviva's general insurance business was incorporated on 23 February 1891 and is registered in Scotland under company number SC002116³¹. Its permissions include entering into regulated credit agreements as lender and accepting deposits¹.

Claims, live chat and getting help

Claims start with reporting the accident. It is a condition of a motor policy that you report the accident to your insurer within a reasonable time, and what counts as reasonable differs between policies¹⁷. At the scene, the details to exchange are your vehicle registration number, your name, your address, and the name and address of the vehicle owner if different¹⁷. Someone who holds you responsible for an accident has the right to request your insurance details, and this can be done later rather than at the time¹⁷.

For day-to-day contact, Aviva's online chatbot gives instant support around the clock and can help you manage your account or direct you to the right team³². It is a first point of contact: changes that need a person are passed to the relevant team, and phone and email remain available for anything the chatbot cannot resolve³².

Where a claim is disputed, the evidence that matters includes expert opinions, photos of the damage, a report including photos from a surveyor, loss adjuster or other expert, and customer testimony³³. For complaints about fault claims and no claims bonuses, the typical information requested includes the policy schedule, policy certificate, full policy terms, contact records, claim forms and notes, a timeline of what has happened, engineer or expert reports, and vehicle valuations showing registration number, mileage and which guide was used¹⁹.

Complaints record and how your cover is protected

Complaints go to Aviva first. The advice is to appeal to your insurer before going further: explain clearly what went wrong from your perspective and how you would like it resolved, and make a formal complaint headed "Complaint", including dates and the names of people you spoke to⁴. If you are not happy with the answer, or the firm does not reply within eight weeks, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free for consumers⁴.

Aviva publishes its own complaints data. For the firm behind Aviva's general insurance business, covering motor, buildings, contents, travel, healthcare, home emergency, income protection, personal accident, gadget and legal expenses for individuals and business insurance, it recorded 54,710 complaints opened and 53,482 closed between 1 January and 30 June 2026, which is 2.91 complaints per 1,000 policies in force³⁴. Of those closed, 37.4% were closed within three days and 60.2% after three days but within eight weeks³⁴. The proportion upheld, meaning the percentage of customers the firm recognises had a valid complaint in full or part, was 52.7%, and the main cause of complaints opened was other general admin and customer service at 52.7%³⁴.

On protection, the position depends on the type of insurance. Compulsory general insurance, such as third-party motor insurance, is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for 100% of the claim³⁵. That protection applies to the insurer's failure, not to a dispute about whether a claim should be paid, which is what the ombudsman handles.