Insurance advice, possible scam help.....
r1_pete - 22/12/10 at 06:06 PM
My Mrs got a phone call from LV, her insurer about a week ago, saying they had received notification from another insurer, who's client aledges
an accident occurred back in May, between said party and my wife, this was backed up by a letter which arrived this morning, all that has been
supplied by the other insurer is my wife's registration number.
She told them in the call she has never had an accident, and also called them again today and they confirmed it is on record she has no knowledge of
the accident.
She has had the car from new, and it has never so much as touched another car or object, so I defy anyone to find any accident damage, repaired or
not.
Obviously she is now worried, is someone running around with the same No. plate, is it some sort of scam, how can she prove she has not been involved,
we know the burden of proof lies with the accuser, but it doesn't stop the concern, her insurers, can't or won't give any more
information...
I know a lot of you are in the know regarding insurance, so any advice as to next steps appreciated, just to try and calm her nerves a bit.
Cheers.
Pete.
Ben_Copeland - 22/12/10 at 06:22 PM
Try and find out where she was on the date and that time... if at work etc get a formal letter from them.
mark chandler - 22/12/10 at 06:26 PM
I once had someone with a rangerover trying to have me for swiping his car and taking off the door mirror, it all went away once I explained I was in
a fiesta so unless a few feet in the air I could not have touched his mirror!
Sounds like mistaken number plate, time to shout back very loudly !
blakep82 - 22/12/10 at 06:29 PM
tell them they're welcome to come round and inspect for any damage or repairs.
marcjagman - 22/12/10 at 06:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
tell them they're welcome to come round and inspect for any damage or repairs.
Ditto
norfolkluego - 22/12/10 at 07:25 PM
The 'accident' was back in May but they've only just informed their insurers?
Total scam, just inform your insurers you haven't been involved in any accidents, their fraud department will pick it up and investigate,
you'll probably see the 'claim' dropped sharpish once they're involved otherwise Mr Claimant might find himself having a
conversation with the BIBs.
They take fraud VERY seriously.
norfolkluego - 22/12/10 at 07:39 PM
Don't take this the wrong way but is your wife sure she's taking to LV not just repling to some phone number on an unsolicited letter, seems
very strange that they can't/won't supply details of the alleged accident.
As I said waiting for seven months to inform your insurer screams scam.
[Edited on 22/12/10 by norfolkluego]
Confused but excited. - 22/12/10 at 08:03 PM
quote:
Originally posted by norfolkluego
having a conversation with the BIBs.
They take fraud VERY seriously.
Like hell!
When I reported a fraud involving over £4K of public money, I was told it wasn't worth the bother, add a zero and they might be interested. And
this was after I told them who had done it and that I had all the documentary evidence. all they had to do was lift him and they couldn't be
arsed.
norfolkluego - 22/12/10 at 08:12 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Confused but excited.
quote:
Originally posted by norfolkluego
having a conversation with the BIBs.
They take fraud VERY seriously.
Like hell!
When I reported a fraud involving over £4K of public money, I was told it wasn't worth the bother, add a zero and they might be interested. And
this was after I told them who had done it and that I had all the documentary evidence. all they had to do was lift him and they couldn't be
arsed.
The 'they' I was talking about was the insurance industry itself, I work in it and we do take attempted fraud VERY seriously. People do go
to jail for doing it, rightly so as it's the rest of us who pick up the bill through increased premiums
r1_pete - 22/12/10 at 08:30 PM
quote:
Originally posted by norfolkluego
Don't take this the wrong way but is your wife sure she's taking to LV not just repling to some phone number on an unsolicited letter, seems
very strange that they can't/won't supply details of the alleged accident.
As I said waiting for seven months to inform your insurer screams scam.
[Edited on 22/12/10 by norfolkluego]
That was my initial reaction, and told her to forget the call, then the letter arrived, which has all the right references on it.
She has definately not had an accident, there is something not right here, as said in replies we'll maintain our position and offer the car up,
and its service records at Lexus for scrutiny if needed at the accusers expense.
[Edited on 22/12/10 by r1_pete]
[Edited on 22/12/10 by r1_pete]
r1_pete - 22/12/10 at 08:35 PM
quote:
Originally posted by norfolkluego
The 'accident' was back in May but they've only just informed their insurers?
Total scam, just inform your insurers you haven't been involved in any accidents, their fraud department will pick it up and investigate,
you'll probably see the 'claim' dropped sharpish once they're involved otherwise Mr Claimant might find himself having a
conversation with the BIBs.
They take fraud VERY seriously.
Yes surely it can only take hours, days max, for one insurer to find out who insures another car, not months, a quick search on motor insurance
database should do it, it can't be much more than askmid which used to be free.
Mark Allanson - 22/12/10 at 09:30 PM
I work with insurance claims every day.
I reckon that 1 in 4 of ALL claims have a fraudulent element to them, none of which are challenged by the insurers. Insurers are only ever worried by
profit or loss of profit, they certainly don't care about right and wrong, justice or honesty.
Should things progress, you may need to put in a counter claim for £40,000 of PI, loss of earnings etc dependant on the claimed circumstances, you
must remember that you are not dealing with facts now but whether it is a viable claim by the opposing party. The less chance of success, the more
chance it will all be dropped.
The police won't be interested unless an ambulance was actually supplied to the "incident."
nick205 - 23/12/10 at 01:04 PM
No doubt you will, but be sure to log every single conversation with names, dates and times and whether they called you or you called them. Also
worth trying to get as much as possible in writing - i.e. send a dated letter to LV recording any conversations etc. That way you have a paper trail
to back up any future correspondence.
I'm no lawyer, but their must be basic rules/laws giving you the right to know what, where and when the claimant is alledging happened.
iank - 23/12/10 at 01:26 PM
Given the length of time to make a claim it's probably a scam.
But it is possible that your wife's car's reg has been cloned and the scumbag had an accident. No worries for them to give the reg
number...
speedyxjs - 23/12/10 at 02:53 PM
Do you know any details of the car involved in the incident? im wonding if it is legit that they may have misread the number plate. Does the letter
state colour, make, model or anything like that?
Ninehigh - 15/1/11 at 09:19 PM
This was on bbc news one morning. It looks like it could be one of the following:
1. Simple case of mistaken plate, e.g. wrote down s909elg and then told ins co s969elg
2. Scam, and they can't tell you where the accident happened because it didn't
3. They've found someone who won't tell them to prove it or stfu.
As I've found with most people who accuse me of half-described actions, tell them to prove it or stfu, and if they don't do either YOU will
take THEM to court. Even sending them a recorded delivery letter stating that intention makes the most hardcore of scammers back off 