Claim on my insurance for an accident which did not happen. Threats to cancel policy

kateandpete

Hope you don't mind but I've also posted this over at CAG - I'm desperate to get some advice on sorting it out. Also sorry this is such a long post to start with - I thought I was OK dealing with this on my own until I got to letter three and started to feel it was going a bit pear shaped!

Last Friday I received a letter from my insurers (HSBC) which reads as follows:

We have been notified of an accident involving your vehicle on the above date by a third party, but cannot trace having received notification from you.

The third party is holding the driver of your vehicle responsible for causing the accident. They are alleging that a *** *** (name omitted) was driving your vehicle and that your vehicle reversed into the other party's parked vehicle.

There is no *** *** covered to drive your vehicle under your policy. If this person was driving your vehicle with your permission we assume that you ensured beforehand that they were insured to drive your vehicle under the terms of their own policy.

Please therefore let us have details of their insurers within 7 days including the name and policy number so that we may redirect the claim.

If in fact it was yourself or a named driver driving your vehicle at the time of the accident, please complete and return the attached accident report form as soon as possible and at the latest within 7 days so that we may deal with this matter on your behalf.

If your vehicle has not been driven by *** *** and has not been involved in any incident please telephone me on receipt of this letter

If you wish to discuss this matter, please telephone on the number shown below

The form I was sent detailed the time of the alleged accident as 00:00 31st December 2008 and apparently it occurred in Staffordshire.

My car was parked at home (Cheshire), with the keys in the house, while I slept at that time. Neither do I know anyone called *** ***. A quick google search reveals that a person by this name (quite unusual) works for Staffordshire County Council, so my guess is that the numberplate has been misreported.

Anyway, I called the number given to explain and followed the call with this letter:

Further to our conversation today I am returning the form sent out to me entitled “Particulars of Motor Accident”. I have not filled out this form as the alleged accident involving my car did not occur. I was in charge of the vehicle for the whole of 31st December 2008 and do not know any individual by the name of *** ***.

My recollection of 31st December 2008 is as follows. From around 10.30pm 30th December I was asleep, with the car parked in the private driveway of my previous address: (address given). The car remained here until I left for work at approximately 8am, arriving at work at approximately 8.30. My route took me (route detailed) to my place of work. I left work at 7pm following the same route home. After my arrival home the car remained parked, again on the private driveway, until 2nd January 2009. Whilst I cannot recall if I made a short journey during the day to buy my lunch I was not involved in any accident of any kind.

I can also confirm that there has been no work done on my car since repairs following storm damage which occurred in March 2008."

Now, I renewed my insurance (still with HSBC, but under a new broker) on 20th January, so the attempted claim is on my old policy. Today I received a letter regarding my current policy which reads:

Whilst checking your no claims discount proof we have been made aware of a claim you made in the last five years which was not disclosed to us at the time the polilcy was taken out.

In order for us to accurately rate your policy it is imperative we receive full details of this incident within 7 days. Failure to respond will leave us no option but to cancel this policy. Once we are aware of the details of the incident we can update your records, however this may result in an increase in your premium ro your policy being placed with a different underwriter.

We look forward to hearing from you

So they are now threatening to cancel my policy. I called them to check it was this claim they are referring to (I made a claim in March 08 for storm damage to my car - the roof blew off our shed and sanded the paintwork) and it is. When I called the guy dealing with the "claim" he told me that whilst it is being dealt with the brokers could ask to increase my premium which would be refunded if the claim was not paid out on. Can they really do this? Is that not extortative? This could get really expensive because of the previous claim in the year (although I did protect my NCB I think only one is allowed per year).

Following my chat with him I called back to the number on todays letter and was assured that my policy would not be cancelled now that I had given them the details, and although I took the operative's name and extension he refused to give me this in writing. I'd really appreciate any advice on what to do next. My first thought is to construct a reply to the sender of the letter threatening cancellation giving details of the phonecall made where they promised not to. What do you think?

LadyIndecisive

Have you considered that there may be a clone of your vehicle?

Have you checked the exact description of the car involved in the collision matches that of yours?

Quentin

kateandpete wrote: »

Today I received a letter regarding my current policy which reads:

"Failure to respond will leave us no option but to cancel this policy."

So they are now threatening to cancel my policy. ................although I took the operative's name and extension he refused to give me this in writing. I'd really appreciate any advice on what to do next. My first thought is to construct a reply to the sender of the letter threatening cancellation giving details of the phonecall made where they promised not to. What do you think?

They are only going to cancel if you "fail to respond".

To ensure they cannot claim this, your first thought is the one to follow.

Don't rely on phone conversations over this. Reply to their letter in full, keep a copy and send it recorded.

(They can up your premium till the matter is resolved, so keep on top of this)

kateandpete

Thanks very much for your replies. Yes, it had occurred to me that the vehicle may have been cloned, but I am more inclined to believe it is a simple mistake. The claim is being brought by Staffordshire County Council, and the purported driver (if my google results of the name is the right person) works for them. I think the numberplate has simply been mistranscribed or some such mistake after an accident in a staff car park.

I have been given no details of the vehicle described by the third party.

Surely any attempt to increase my premium before anything has been paid out/investigated amounts to extortion? I don't really have the spare cash to start forking out just because someone else has tried to claim on my policy...

LadyIndecisive

kateandpete wrote: »

I have been given no details of the vehicle described by the third party.

When you respond to the insurer ask them to get hold of this info - could be a very simple way of sorting it out?

Errata

How on earth did the third party know you were insured by HSBC ? Sounds very fishy.

kateandpete

I assumed that their insurer could access my insurance details using the registration number? Anyone know if this is the case or not?

LadyIndecisive

Yes, there is a database of all vehicles insured which will allow an insurer to obtain the insurance company and policy number for the vehicle.

geri1965_2

Why don't you ring the person at Staffordshire COunty Council, explain the situation and ask for details of his car - your insurers could then pass them on to the third party.

kateandpete

LadyIndecisive wrote: »

When you respond to the insurer ask them to get hold of this info - could be a very simple way of sorting it out?

Yes, I did ask if they had given details of the car and I was assured that this would all be investigated.

My biggest concern is the fear that they could demand pretty much any amount of money to keep my insurance valid. There is no incentive for them to get things sorted quickly, especially if they can up my premium in the meantime. If they do is there any way it would be appropriate for me to contact the third party directly demanding that they either back up or drop their claim? As I say, I think it is probably an innocent mistake, but one which may see me substantially out of pocket through no fault of my own.

kateandpete

geri1965 wrote: »

Why don't you ring the person at Staffordshire COunty Council, explain the situation and ask for details of his car - your insurers could then pass them on to the third party.

Thanks - our posts crossed! Is it OK to contact them (either the claimant or the purported driver) direct or (as this could reach court) do we have to do everything through the insurers? If I could do it that way it seems much easier to sort out, as the insurance companies seem very slow to act.