Accused of being in a car accident obtaining CCTV

patanne

No CCTV from a petrol station! They are all so paranoid that we will drive off without paying - no chance. Comes under the same heading as the ccs that get ripped off at small petrol stations. The local police probably already know about them but have no proof.

narabanekeater

I must admit the no CCTV surprised me but I do have an email from the petrol stations owners confirming this. Quentin im sorry i'm probably not explaining myself correctly. It's not a motor insurance company that we have heard from ( to date) just a no win no fee solicitor. I couldn't understand how this would be advantageous to them. They are claiming from the no win no fee solicitors an injury claim and for the cost to repair the car. Surely they have a legal obligation to inform their motor insurance as well? thats why I was expecting a motor insurance company.

Marktheshark

The fact there is no CCTV makes things better for you, there is no obligation to incriminate yourself, you do not have to say or give them any information, the onus is on them to prove you were there, that alone is not going to be easy.

I would return the letter say claim rejected due to lack of proof of claim.
Please forward your proof of claim or the matter will remain closed until court papers are received
.

Quentin

narabanekeater wrote: »

.... Quentin im sorry i'm probably not explaining myself correctly. It's not a motor insurance company that we have heard from ( to date) just a no win no fee solicitor. I couldn't understand how this would be advantageous to them. They are claiming from the no win no fee solicitors an injury claim and for the cost to repair the car. Surely they have a legal obligation to inform their motor insurance as well? thats why I was expecting a motor insurance company.

Yes I understand the claim has come in from a solicitor.


That is all you will get a claim from as the third party has instructed his solicitor to handle his claim.


The situation between the third party and their insurer is irrelevant as far as this claim is concerned, and whether or not the insurer (if they have one) is in the picture is also irrelevant and no concern of yours.

Quentin

Marktheshark wrote: »

I would return the letter say claim rejected due to lack of proof of claim.
Please forward your proof of claim or the matter will remain closed until court papers are received
.

This is poor advice.


Were you to do this your insurer would take a dim view of your attempt to deal with this should court papers be received and you then wanted them to deal with this court case and claim!

dktreesea

This sounds like a fraudulent claim. Pass the letter onto your insurance company and the police. Don't answer the letter directly. Make sure the police give you an incident number and ask them to obtain footage of the CCTV from the petrol station. Also, take your own photos of your car, clearly showing no damage at all to the car. Don't just wait for the insurer to come and do this. They know where you live, there's nothing to stop them coming and damaging your car. Definitely a scam.

LABMAN

Please ignore Marktheshark's pseudo legal advice as they are clearly not qualified to give it.


This is part and parcel of what you pay your insurance for...let them deal with it!

Aretnap

EdGasket wrote: »

Well you look at it from a technical angle and assume all parties behave as they should. But what happens if the insurer fails to make any response within the 14 days or worse still denies receiving anything or generally just makes a hash of dealing with it? What if they decide to pay up because that is simplest for them and hey ho, it's not their no-claim bonus that is affected? Might have wished you had dealt with it yourself then.

On the other hand, if the you decide not to tell your insurer and deal with it yourself, the claimant turns up at court with a witness who claims (truthfully or otherwise) to have seen the collision, and you're left with a bill for several grand, you might end up wishing that you'd let your insurance deal with it in the first place.

narabanekeater

I thought id update this in case only to help others. Our insurers came out and checked our car who agreed that there was no marks on our car to suggest an accident. 6 months has passed and today OH had the following email -
We have examined your description of the alleged accident, together with any other information supplied to date, and regret to advise that we feel it unlikely we would be successful in fully defending the third party’s claim against you. This conclusion is based on our experience of handling other motor vehicle claims and the approach of the Courts in deciding issues of liability in such circumstances.

It is therefore our intention, given that we have to keep commercial considerations in mind, to deal with the third party’s claim now, on the most economic terms that we can.

Please note that no admission of liability will be made and any payments will be strictly without prejudice, so that you are yourself free to pursue a claim against the third party if you wish.


So sadly for OH he now has to declare this upon renewal

buglawton

Sound's like a scammers charter of the sort that raises all our insurance premiums.