False car accident claim

claire831

Hi all,

My fiance received a call last week from his car insurance company informing him that a claim had been made against his car being involved in an accident.

My finance has not had a car accident, was completley suprised by this and we're now wondering what to do next.

So far, he has spoken to the insurance company explaining that he has not been involved in an accident and faxed a copy of his signing in/out sheet at work to the insurers with his line managers confirmation that he was in the office that day.

We received a letter through the post yesterday again telling us that someone had put in a claim and asking us to fill in an accident form with the details of the accident! Again he rang them, this time asked for the apparent location of the accident and the exact time, the insurers did not have the details so are going to get back to him. They did mention that they may send an assessor out to look at the car.

Has anyone else had any experience of this situation? We're wondering if its simply a case of someone making a note of the wrong licence plate number or something more sinister like someone driving around with false plates.

Any advice would be great!.

Thanks, Claire.

Silk

First thing is to check the letter is def from his insurers ie the phone numbers etc are genuine !
If it is legit he needs to phone them and ask for the details to be checked as they would not even have contacted him without knowing circumstances and dates/times of an accident etc.
If they beleive that they have got details correct the police need to be informed asap as it's possible his car has been cloned

mattymoo

Has happened before - witness or injured party notes down incorrect reg number.

Fortunately the burden of proof rests with the person making the claim. They have to prove it was your vehicle involved. They will need to provide precise location and time / date of incident. Your fiance can then check the timesheets / location etc to prove innocence. Also need to provide details of vehicle involved. For instance if they say "green estate car, reg number ABC123X" but your car is a red hatchback then it will be clear they have the wrong reg no written down.

They also need to provide details of the circumstances, i.e. rear end shunt / pulled out of side road etc.

Wait for all that to come in and see what happens.

In the meantime it is likely his insurers will have deducted 2 years NCD (unless he has protected bonus) so make sure you sort the matter out and get it reinstated if it is a false claim.

e00c

Hi Claire,

Very strange!!

First of all... while your waiting for the insurance to get back to you, I'd call your local police station give them your details and see if anyone reported an accident with your details.

If they have - then you can get details of where the accident happened / time / date etc.

Failing that - just sit back and wait for the insurance to get back to you.

Is there CCTV at work? In the car park. as a last resort - if you really need to - get access to them and send the tapes off to clear the name

Armengar

Sounds like a cloned car claim. Someone who has cloned your car may well have driven off from a scene but has been traced by CCTV. This is odd because the police are usually the first to knock on the door or send a letter to the RK of the car (for driving away from a scene of an accident)

claire831

Thanks for all the replies.

One thing i forgot to add was that the claim isn't again my fiance but against a 'Mr Scott' who was apparently driving the car at the time. (The only people insured on the car are myself and my fiance) I guess this means they must have stopped after the accident if they have a name.

My initial thought is a false plate, or an error when writing the reg down.

My fiance is going to go to the local police station to report it just so that have something on record.

Thanks again, will keep you updated.

Claire.

Hintza

I wouldn't report anything until you at least have more details.

steve31

I recently received a letter from a legal expenses insurer asking for details of my insurance company for an accident I was supposedly involved in at the end of April 2008.

When I called them, they told me my name was listed as the driver of a Mercedes that was involved in the said accident, quoted the registration number of said car and gave me the address, but not the town in which the accident occurred.

As I do not own a Mercedes (I wish!), the registration doesn't in any way match that of my real car and that I was never in an accident at said address on said date, I expressed my concern that someone had my name and address and was using it falsely at the scene of an accident. However, the reaction of the woman I spoke to was patronising to say the least and she seeemed unconcerned and said I would have to wait for the police investigation to be completed.

This is very worrying, especially if someone is using my personal details in such a manner!