Vent - National Accident Database

blossomhill_2

I was in a car accident yesterday

Today I had a call from Injury Lawyers 4U asking how I am feeling after yesterday's accident

I asked who had given them my details

The caller said that either I or the third party had reported the accident and they then follow it up from the "national accident database"

I feel agrieved that my details are so readiliy availble to a company I have no dealings with

Does anyone know who maintains this database?

roundabouthere

That'll be just the start of things to come, be prepared for constant calls and text messages harrassing you. Be aware of who you are talking to as often they will try to give the impression of working with your insurance company.

This practice of selling on details by the insurance companies is in the process of getting outlawed. If I remember rightly the whole debate in parliament started because one of the high level politicians wife had an accident and afterwards was harassed constantly by claims companies.

blossomhill_2

Thanks, I think they must already be breaching data protection as my details are not being used for the purpose they were collected for - but will probably find I agreed to it in miniscule small print somewhere

When ins co asked how I'd like to be contacted I said letter, so they've already contracdicted that

markelock

I would advise any callers that you have developed tourettes, displaying the symptoms on the call. see if it's worth any money?

fluffnutter

There's no 'national accident database'. There are simply lists of numbers that are passed around, attracting a nice fee each time. Car hire firms are typical culprits. Insurance companies are shying away from selling on details now, mainly because of the bad press it receives but other parts of the 'claim management' industry aren't so scrupulous.

It's already against the law to sell your details without your permission, but it's so easy to get round this, and the ICO's so toothless that the law's fairly irrelevant.

Essentially there'll be a tickbox somewhere that is checked or unchecked depending on how the question's been styled that allows for your details to be sold. Because you've probably dealt with people over the phone who've deliberately not made you aware of said tickbox, it's been left to default to 'Yes! Sell my details on! I love getting endless calls from ambulance chasers!'.

The personal injury claim market and its associated referral fees are reckoned to increase everyone's car insurance premium by an average of £90 per policy. In my case that's nearly 50% of my premium going to fund an industry that I think is immoral and that I want no part of. It's !!!!ing criminal, it really is.

McKneff

So is putting your premium up when you are in a non fault incident.

No one should be penalised for doing nothing wrong.

fluffnutter

McKneff wrote: »

So is putting your premium up when you are in a non fault incident.

No one should be penalised for doing nothing wrong.

This has got to be one of the most frustrating things. But apparently you're statistically at greater risk of a further accident and/or making a claim within the following 12 months, hence the price hike. Annoying, isn't it?

The worst for me is if you're clearly a victim of a set-up, i.e. someone reverses into you, but maintains you hit them and claims for personal injury, e.g. whiplash. It's becoming more and more common, apparently. They make sure they do it when there are no witnesses, or get a mate to 'witness' the accident, the insurance company can't establish blame because the stories differ so they either apportion blame to you as the driver at the back, or settle 50/50. In both cases you'll see a huge rise in your premium plus the loss of your no claims bonus. Thing is, they know you're probably the victim of fraud but it can't ever be proved so they don't bother pursuing it.

IMO, this is as a DIRECT result of the proliferation of ambulance chasing companies and the increasingly litigious culture we find ourselves in.

qetu1357

Get an in car camera/video from Halfords. £79.

daveyjp

The call coming so soon after you had an accident may be pure coincidence. These companies fish for leads and call thousands of people every day until they hit on someone who has had an accident recently.

blossomhill_2

daveyjp wrote: »

The call coming so soon after you had an accident may be pure coincidence. These companies fish for leads and call thousands of people every day until they hit on someone who has had an accident recently.

Maybe, but from what I've seen online they usually say "recent" whereas this caller knew which of the two of us was injured and said yesterday

McKneff

We had 2 no faults last year, I was plagued afterward from these idiots, some telling me that they had £2K plus waiting in a fund to send us for our injuries.

We were not actually In either of the 'incidences'

Just say to them, just a moment, put the phone to one side and forget them, put your phone back on the hook half an hour later.