Help & Advice needed please

leccy240

I had an accident almost a year ago to the day and the claim is still going on although it is nearing conclusion. I am not happy with my insurance company or the way they have handled my case. I don't know if I have a case to take further or not hopefully someone on here can advise me. In September last year I ran into the back of a van at very low speed. I broke the vans brake light and snapped my number plate and that to all intense and purposes was the extent of the damage. Before I could say a wors to the other driver he was waving his arms around saying it'll have to go through the insurance, no problem I gave him my details but he left without giving me his. Fortunately I took pictures of the damage and I had a look in the van. I notified my insurance company the next morning and I explained to them what damage I had definitely done and anything else he was trying to claim for I didn't do. I heard nothing until just before xmas when my insurance company called to say they had received a claim for whiplash injuries for 6 people. I had a fraud investigator come to my house and take a statement. He took copies of all my documents and off he went I heard nothing for a few weeks and then I had a forensic accident investigator come and have a look at my car. Nothing apart from the broken number plate had been changed. However it turns out my insurance company decided to go on the report from the supposedly independent engineer for the third party and paid nearly 3 thousand pounds for the other fellas van in hire fees and damages. I asked them why they had paid it when I had told them I hadn't caused that much damage and they just said because it's cheaper. The 3rd partys van never got checked by my insurance company. my company have asked for proof and i.d. for all the people claiming for whiplash and no surprises there's been no reply. I asked for an update today and got told that they would be closing the case next month and I asked them if they would be recovering the costs of the damage from the 3rd party insurers and they said no because it's unlikely they'll ever get anything. So I said that means I'm stuck with high premiums through something which may now be a crash for cash and all I got is 'we sympathise with you' !!! AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH. I don't want sympathy I want justice. If I knew I had done that amount of damage I wouldn't argue but I broke my number plate £15 and I broke the other persons brake light not even the lamp just the lense £20. Do I make a complaint to my insurance company, do I go to the ombudsman or do I have to swallow it? Can someone give me a bit of advice please.

Guest101

You ran into the back of a car, that's your fault for following too close. Dont see what the issue is?

They havent paid out whiplash.

Quentin

You agree to let your insurer deal with claims as they think fit when taking out the policy.


This they have done.


If you feel they have acted unfairly towards you then complain using their complaints procedure which will be set out in their policy docs.


If you are unhappy with their reply then you can escalate to the FOS at no cost to you for their adjudication.

OnanTheBarbarian

Aside from the shenanigans that has gone on with the other party and the spurious passengers, the bottom line is you have had a "fault" incident where a claim has been made against your policy.

The amount involved is not really significant as even if everything was 100% on the level, you'd still have a fault claim made against your insurance policy and therefore the impact on your premiums.

Draw a deep breath and let it slide, getting all geed up about it will just drain months from your life going through a pointless complaint and get you nowhere.

leccy240

The issue is yes I ran into the back of a van. Was it on purpose I don't know? I don't have a problem with that. The problem I have apart from the bogus whiplash claims is the bogus damage which I didn't do. My company didn't bother checking. Like I said the damage to both vehicles didn't even cost £50 yet the 3rd party has had 3K worth of work done.

leccy240

Onan sorry I think you're wrong. That's why the big companies get away with it because know one complains. Why should I have to pay exorbitant premiums because of a fraudster. I know i'll have a fault claim against me but you would think that they would look at the claim as a whole and think well that's wrong so throw the entire claim out or at the very least investigate it properly. My documents and my vehicle have been gone over with a fine tooth comb but I'm not the one making the claim. I will be complaining I just thought I might be able to get some direction on here.

tykesi

leccy240 wrote: »

Why should I have to pay exorbitant premiums because of a fraudster.

But you won't be paying higher premiums because of a fraduster, you'll be paying it because you crashed into the back of a van. The increase in premiums will happen whether the claim is for £20 for his light lense or £20000 for a new van, the amount of the increase is not linked to the amount paid out on the claim.

Yes, it's annoying and yes you should complain but make sure you're complaining about the right thing and in a factual, non-emotional manner otherwise they're not going to take it seriously. That said, this is an insurance company so I doubt they'll do anything other than paying lip service to your complaint.

Quentin

leccy240 wrote: »

.....I will be complaining I just thought I might be able to get some direction on here.

See #2 for some "direction" on complaining.

Bear in mind that you cannot tell from your at the scene inspection whether or not you caused unseen damage.

DUTR

leccy240 wrote: »

The issue is yes I ran into the back of a van. Was it on purpose I don't know? I don't have a problem with that. The problem I have apart from the bogus whiplash claims is the bogus damage which I didn't do. My company didn't bother checking. Like I said the damage to both vehicles didn't even cost £50 yet the 3rd party has had 3K worth of work done.

The bills soon run up , hire fees etc, so £3k is relatively low, you will be pleased when you change your car to one with autonomous emergency braking.
As an aside the person running into the rear is not always at fault now, if the insurers suspect fraud, this happened to a lady at work, the classic, one car cuts up another which are both in front of you, then the foremost car just carries on.
In future should an incident occur, always take some pictures at the scene, many phones have cameras on them.

Hintza

Neighbour ran in to the front of the Pamda the other week accepted liability. Scratch on bumper whilst the Panda has £2,300 worth of damage. Was paid out £1,600 less 9% to buy back salvage. A new light and a big hammer and it is back on the road until I can get it to the bodyshop.

The strange thing is no cheque yet and we still have the hire car, which is nuts 3 weeks after it was all agreed..

downright_mean_with_money

while it's annoying the insurance has done little and taken a while to sort it, that's what you pay your premium for. once the claim is made it's out of your hands and the company are free to deal with it how they see fit. I'm surprised they have gone into it so much detail with you. If you suspect fraud (and you have plenty of evidence to suggest that) and they say it was your fault then you should complain about that only (after being given a full statement in writing) - their costs and how they settled the third party claim is out of your hands and not worth loosing sleep. What you need to do now is damage limitation (pardon the pun) to your insurance record, don't forget the ombudsman.