Insurance paid out on disputed claim

paulie38

Hi,

Lokking for some advice please.

My OH was contacted by her insurance compnay in September last year saying her car had been involved in an accident in Milton Keynes. My OH contacted them & told them she has NEVER been to MK, & she was with her daughter all day in Kent. My OH does not drive outside the town we live, she never drives on motorways as she is not confident enough. She was told to put this in am email, which she did. She was then contacted by an engineer saying he was asked by insurance company to inspect her car. He duly did this & said vebally to her that it does not appear that her car had been involved in an accident. Off he popped & we heard nothing more. Two weeks ago she gets azn email saying her insurance has automatically been renewed. She did not receive an renewal invite in the post, so she contacted them. She was told they send all renewals by email. (She did not even ger a renewal invite by email) She told them that i am insured with them also, & i had received an renewal in the post when my renewal was due. They insist they sent a renewal invite by email, but my OH did not receive one.
She was told she had 14 days if she did not want to renew with them. In the meantime, she logged in & saw her renewal quote that had gone up over £200.00. When she looked further, she noticed the alleged claim which had lost her NCD. She called them & they said the claim was still open as they were waitnig for more info from 3rd party. The operator said he would ring them the next day to see if they were still persuing my OH for the claim. He also said he would ring back the next day.
No phone call was received, & yesterday she received a letter stating they had paid out to the 3rd party for the claim!!!

Ho can they do this? My OH has disputed the claim from the off, engineer has inspected her car & they have still accepted liability on her behalf without getting any more information from her.
Where do we stand with this? Is there any action we can take?
Any advice appreciated.

TIA

bengalknights

Unfotunatly whilst a claim is still open it counts as a claim

However you can take it to court action against your insurer and the claimant if you want to make it move quicker.

paulie38

Yes, but they have acually paid out on it!

dunstonh

She called them & they said the claim was still open as they were waitnig for more info from 3rd party.

That is a pain but quite normal. Once the claim has finished, you get a refund if it is shown to be non-fault claim.

No phone call was received, & yesterday she received a letter stating they had paid out to the 3rd party for the claim!!!

Ho can they do this?

They would have been supplied evidence by the other insurer and they have to balance the cost arguing the claim vs the amount involved in settling it.

Where do we stand with this? Is there any action we can take?

Make a formal complaint in writing. You can do it by phone but chances are you will not say what you want to say. Whereas a bullet pointed letter is easier for you to say what you want in write it without pressure.

There is a possibility that a car is out there using your wife's plates. Cloning is not uncommon.

Does your wife have location tracking on her mobile phone? Whilst it doesnt show where she was, it does show where her phone was. That in conjunction with any other evidence could paint a picture that supports her story. Did she make any retail purchases that day? Does she have receipts? Did she use a cashpoint? Could you give names of non-family witnesses?

caveat_emptor

Doesn't sound right at all.
First register a complaint with your insurer and if not satisfied, then Association of British Insurers.
Might be useful for us to know who your insurer is so that we can avoid.

paulie38

caveat_emptor wrote: »

Doesn't sound right at all.
First register a complaint with your insurer and if not satisfied, then Association of British Insurers.
Might be useful for us to know who your insurer is so that we can avoid.

Hastings Direct

Quentin

caveat_emptor wrote: »

Doesn't sound right at all.
First register a complaint with your insurer and if not satisfied, then Association of British Insurers....

The correct way to complain and escalate it is to first complain to your insurer.


If they ignore the complaint for 8 weeks or you are unhappy with their response then you can escalate to the FOS (Financial Ombudsman service) for their adjudication at no cost to you

silvercar

Is this a scam?

My OH was contacted by her insurance compnay in September last year saying her car had been involved in an accident in Milton Keynes.

I have calls almost weekly claiming I have been involved in an accident!

I just hang up. I wonder if giving details is the next stage of the scam call.

Quentin

silvercar wrote: »

Is this a scam?



I have calls almost weekly claiming I have been involved in an accident!

I just hang up. I wonder if giving details is the next stage of the scam call.

Do you get these calls from your insurer (as the OP did)? If you hang up on your Insurer then expect them to keep trying!

silvercar

Quentin wrote: »

Do you get these calls from your insurer (as the OP did)? If you hang up on your Insurer then expect them to keep trying!

They sometimes claim to be my insurer!
.
.
.
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Then ask me what car I drive :rotfl:

eddddy

silvercar wrote: »

I have calls almost weekly claiming I have been involved in an accident!

I just hang up. I wonder if giving details is the next stage of the scam call.

silvercar wrote: »

They sometimes claim to be my insurer!

Then ask me what car I drive :rotfl:

That's almost certainly different.

They are phoning random numbers hoping to come across somebody who has been injured in a car accident that was a 3rd party's fault.

They want to 'help' you claim personal injury damages from the other party - in exchange for a fee.

(Very occasionally, these calls result from rogue employees of insurance companies or car repairers selling your details, but often your phone number was just randomly dialled by an autodialer.)