Car Insurance Claim - "Money Set Aside" Scam?

jasonbee

Hello, I recently had a small car accident where someone hit the back of me. I've suffered a little whiplash so far and the pain/strain is easing. I've been to the doctors and reported my pain with them.

Today I've had a call from "Consumer Advice UK" telling me all car insurance companies put aside an amount of money for personal injuries, and that I am entitled to £2000 compensation straight away without even having to see a doctor. The fact that I've actually suffered a little more than usual and been to a doctors means I should get more, anything up to £4000 apparently.

She advised that it would not be beneficial for me to go to the solicitors assigned by the car insurance company as they work to give me the lowest amount and divvy up the rest between them, ie they'd offer me £1500 maximum without going to court, which I'd accept and then they'd take the other £500 left behind.

She knew everything about the accident and who the solicitors assigned were etc

My question is does this sound familiar to anyone and is it true or is it simply a other personal injury claim vulture trying to get me to go with them instead of another solicitor??

rs65

jasonbee wrote: »

Today I've had a call from "Consumer Advice UK" telling me all car insurance companies put aside an amount of money for personal injuries

Utter tosh. Choose your own solicitor.

InsideInsurance

jasonbee wrote: »

My question is does this sound familiar to anyone and is it true or is it simply a other personal injury claim vulture trying to get me to go with them instead of another solicitor??

There is the tiniest amount of truth in it in that an insurance company reserves money to pay claims. In the case of reported claims this is a reasonable estimate of what they expect the claim to cost them and this is adjusted as more information comes in. Even for unreported claims insurers have to reserve for whats known as IBNR (incurred but not reported).

This is required industry practice otherwise insurers would be far too liable to go bust on the basis that claims can be received years after a policy is sold.

Obviously the rest of the message is absolute rubbish. Reserves are held for legal reasons, if the claim comes in below the reserve the money certainly isnt divided up amongst anyone, it is simply released back into the insurer's common pool. Each insurer has their own reserving practice that isnt visible to anyone outside the organisation other than the regulator and auditors. There would be no way of a 3rd party organisation knowing what reserves, if any, have been set for a potential PI claim.

These are just more ambulance chasers trying a slightly different route to get you to sign up with them so they can make their commission.

In most cases they dont even know if you've ever been involved in an accident or not but use leading questions that make it sounds as if they do

jasonbee

Thanks for your reply.

She was very helpful and friendly and basically just said that they were there to make us aware of this reserve and that they were not trying to persuade me into any decision, she explained a lot and asked if she wanted her to call me back next week. Nothing pushy or sales-like.

It seemed genuine but then again anything can if delivered correctly.

She wasn't fishing for anything as she knew my name, address date of the accident and all the other details I've only told the insurers, (although the car hire company assigned by the insurers did ask a lot of questions?)

Ultimately she said I would be guaranteed the full £2000 100%

I'll wait for her call again next week and see what the next step is, or if someone has more info or opinions then I'm all ears.

tberry6686

Its a con to get you to sign up with them. They only know about the accident because your insurer sold them the details.

I get these calls every couple of weeks for an accident involving my car in December 2011 telling me there is cash set aside to compensate me for my injuries (actual figure varies). Only problem is I was in my bed asleep when my car was hit by my neighbour so what injuries they are talking about I don't know (unless I fell out of bed that day).

Most insurers will sell on your information to these ambulance chasers.

There is no "reserve" for your injuries just the general cash put aside to deal with claims that may come in. They are trying to push you into using them to claim against the insurer so they can claim their (elevated) costs from the insurer that you are claiming from.

If you do have injuries either find your own claims company to use or claim from the insurer directly. They can't be any worse than these companies that have to buy the information to stay in business.

InsideInsurance

jasonbee wrote: »

It seemed genuine but then again anything can if delivered correctly.

She wasn't fishing for anything as she knew my name, address date of the accident and all the other details I've only told the insurers, (although the car hire company assigned by the insurers did ask a lot of questions?)

Ultimately she said I would be guaranteed the full £2000 100%

I'll wait for her call again next week and see what the next step is, or if someone has more info or opinions then I'm all ears.

They have simply bought your details and are trying to sign you up to their claims management process.

There is absolutely no "guarantee" of any money, for a whole host of reasons the number may be higher or lower than £2k. The company you spoke to have simply picked a number based on the info they have about the incident which will not include whatever reserve the TPI have set.

Your better off either (a) choosing a solicitor that you consider highly or (b) using your Legal Expenses insurance to ensure you keep all the compensation rather than giving business to cold calling sales people even if they are good at their job. I personally wouldnt go with any company who's sales script includes lying to me.

BertTheRaccoon

Anyone cold calling you like this is breaking the rules.

Anyone able to tell you how much your claim is worth without any medical opinion or evidence is also lying.

Put simply, I would not trust any of this lot who call people up as a result of having bought some data.