To think this is normal honesty? Insurance related.

[Hereshopingforimprovement]

I had someone hot my car last week. Mine was unoccupied so clear liability with the other party. As part of the claim my car seat needed replacing. Company offered the price I paid but I couldn't replace it for that cost so asked if they would pay the additional, sent links to the only suppliers that sell it. On the basis that my son has autism and needs to be harnessed for his own safety they agreed.

When I came to but the seat it was on offer at one of the companies so cheaper than what they gave me but more expensive than the original cost. I phoned them to advise them and repay the additional monies. They seemed very surprised and said this rarely happens and people just keep the additional money. They said I could and I said I would donate to charity but I called them back and paid as it felt very wrong and i was very grateful for them authorising the additional monies in the first place. Aibu to think that is just normal honesty? They seemed very surprised that I had even called in the first place. I thought most people would have done this?

You did what you felt was right, most people wouldn't have, I'm not sure what the difference in cost was but to an insurance company probably a small amount and the claim total will have already been lodged against the responsible party's insurance. You were very honest and that's a good thing, but when they told you to keep it I think that would've been ok for me, you could've given it to charity of you felt strongly about it, or something for your child with additional needs.

I don't understand why you would call back instead of giving to charity after they had given you the money.

But yes, I would have done it. When I claimed for my lost ring and then found it two years later I informed the insurance company.

It was a small (to them anyway) amount, £40 and I was dealing direct with the responsible parties insurance as they offered me the same service as my own insurance company and saved me paying my excess. People i spoke to in rl think I'm crackers so thought I'd see what people on here thought.

Honestly, for £40 I probably wouldn't have told them. And if I had, and they said give it to charity, I would have.

For a large sum of money I would have told them, mainly out of fear of bailiffs turning up on my door 3 years later demanding the money...

I’d have done it OP.

It probably cost them more than the £40 itself in admin costs to have to rebank it etc.

Would have given it to a charity.

I’d like to think I’d have called to let them know

But if they said to keep it I would have.

I probably would have told them on the basis that you'd negotiated a higher pay out (but if the standard car seat pay out was £100 and I got one for £80 I wouldn't have) partly out of goodness and partly to give them no reason to fuck me in future.

Once they said give it to charity I would have done so, mind you.

I probs should have given it to charity when they said I could keep it. My anxiety is through the roof due to lack of sleep at the moment so rational thinking does not always happen! I'm glad that others would have phoned and told them too though. It just shocked me how many people in rl said they wouldn't have thought twice about keeping it. I daren't tell them I paid it back even though I was told to keep it!

being more honest than most on mn isnt difficult! keep the standards, op, good for you.

I think you made this far more confusing than it needed to be.

I would have kept the money and had a takeaway.

I would have kept it, it would have been too much hassle to try and re pay it.

Once you've honestly advised them, I think you should have kept the money too, and have pity on whoever has to deal with the extra money, possibly get in trouble for authorising an amount too high and so on.

Yes, normal, to me. It's important to me to be completely honest in these things.

I would have told them, but would have given the money to charity - a charity I already volunteer for.

If you want to spend time thinking about how to live your live in the most moral way, then there are very many more important things to focus on than whether or not the insurance company are 40 quid out of pocket. It seems like an awful lot of wasted time and effort for very little reason - the extra phone calls and need to process the returned money etc probably cost them not far off 40 quid, so they didn't even benefit. They said you could keep it and donate it to charity, surely that's a better use of the 40 quid than lining the insurance company shareholders' pockets!!

I don’t think it’s “normal” honesty because I don’t think most people would have bothered contacting them over such a small sum. Obviously I don’t think you did the wrong thing, I think you have higher standards of honesty than the “average” person. That’s ok. But I also think it’s ok to be averagely honest!

I find that people who cheat on money always say - everyone does it. No not everyone does it, and I wouldn't have either.

@crunchymint exactly. And it’s very rarely people who know what it’s like to be poor that are the ones who would keep it either!

I would like to think in that situation I would return the money but for that amount I'd be thinking I could buy my DS some new toys or save it for Christmas or give to charity. It would be more hassle to me having to ring them up and explain and I'd feel like I'd cheated them into given me extra in the first place so probably wouldn't have called up for feeling bad about it.

Yes. I read some research done where someone left a wallet or purse with some money in it in a public place. It had the person's contact details on a card inside. Nearly everyone who returned it was poor, and often said things like - I was worried this money might have to last you the rest of the week. They covertly filmed people who picked the wallet/purse up. And people who looked expensively dressed were far more likely to keep it.
Also the poor donate a much larger proportion of their income to charity than the rich.

The sad thing is that they were surprised. DH and I found a twenty pound note on the floor in Sainsbury’s a while back so we went and handed it in at the desk. They couldn’t believe it. But we were thinking what if that was someone’s last twenty and they couldn’t buy their weekly shop? They said if no one claimed it within two weeks we could have it. We did go back and get it but largely because we wanted to see if the person who lost it had managed to get it back rather than we wanted it IYSWIM. I was really depressed at the staff’s shock that we’d handed it in rather than just pocket it.

crunchymint sounds about right eh?

It's not really about honesty though. Honesty would be telling them about the overpayment in the first place, which lots of people wouldn't do but quite a few would. BUT the company told her to keep it! To then ring back and say she felt it was 'very wrong' and needed to send it back is quite bizarre. It's not 'very wrong' to keep a 40 quid overpayment that you've been told you can keep (because it would cost them more money than that to process the return!). It's being randomly worthy for no good reason except self-congratulation. This thread is just more of OP wanting to broadcast to the world her amazing honesty compared to the rest of the world who are all awful cheaty fuckers who'd steal the clothes off your back as soon as look at you. It's just showy self-righteousness.

I would have told them and returned the money too. I actually think most people are honest. All my immediate family are honest. I think it makes life easier.

Hope this isn’t a humble brag 😂😂😂