False mistaken identity claim on car insurance

VinayBondade

Hello,

Greetings.

Need help regarding a false claim on my car insurance.

Somewhere around 23rd July I received a call from my car insurer (Admiral ) that a claim has been made against me for an accident on 5th July 2018 around 9:00AM, somewhere near Birmingham (Windsor Road) and asked for my whereabouts. I live in High Wycombe and my daily routine is same - Leave home at 8:15 AM with wife and daughter. Drop wife at High Wycombe Train station at 8:25AM and then continue to drop daughter to her school . School drop off time is 8:55 AM and start to office from school at 9:02 AM and reach office around 9:20 AM.

I have CCTV footage of me entering the office at 9:21AM and CCTV footage of my car on a road near my office from Wycombe district council. The CCTV operator has confirmed my car and its registration plate and that it is indeed in High Wycombe at 9:18AM on 5th July 2018. I have submitted all the evidence to my insurers on 31st July 2018.

The problem is that I have my car insurance up for renewal on 15th September 2018. Admiral have not resolved this issue yet and are saying that other party has not come back or dropped the claim. Other party who is falsely claiming against me has told that he has a witness statement. No way on earth it is possible for me to be present at the accident spot in Birmingham at 9 AM and be back in high Wycombe at 9:18 AM the same day. The accident location and High Wycombe are around 140 miles apart. Admiral had sent an independent evaluator to check dents/marks on my car due to this accident. Obviously he didn't find any marks and has reported the same.

Now that I need to renew my car insurance, I'm loosing my no claim bonus of 5 years and the premium is up by £250. Admiral is claiming that though we have evidence that it is not me, but since the claim is not dropped and is present on my record, though it is not settled or any claim amount given, it is the process of the insurance providers to have the incident logged and that the premium will rise. It has been more than a month now after me providing the evidence that it was not me or my car, the insurance guys are insisting that the record will be deleted only after the claim is dropped. I suspect either a fraud from third party who is claiming or from insurance provider to extract more premium from me.
I'm completely lost about how to save the no claim bonus and the hike in my next premium.
I am not sure how long this is going to continue. If there is deadline to drop the case if the other party doesn't come back.
Please advice.

Thanks,
Vinay

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm not sure what you can do other than to keep pushing. Presumably, Admiral will refund the increase of the premium that's related to the disputed claim once it's resolved in your favour? They will also restore your no claims status. That might not be £250 because some of that might be a general increase in premium cost.

neilmcl

If Admiral continue not to resolve this despite your evidence showing you weren't involved then it might be worth making a formal complaint, and then involving the FOS.

unholyangel

VinayBondade wrote: »

I suspect either a fraud from third party who is claiming or from insurance provider to extract more premium from me.

Or perhaps your plate has been cloned or wrong registration was written down for a genuine accident?

Your insurance provider wouldn't need to commit fraud to increase your premium - there is no law governing how much they can quote you or how they have to calculate their premiums. Some insurance companies will give eye watering quotes for customers who do not fit their target demographic.

And if the claimant was committing fraud, I would have thought it would be easier/make more sense to visit a place, pick a car thats actually there and then make a claim against the owner of that car. Rather than claiming from a registration at random that may not even be local to the area.

jk0

Might be an idea to stick with Admiral this year, even if premium is high.


I bet it would be a nightmare to get a refund off someone else later in the year when Admiral come to their senses.

konark

So the accident happened over a year ago and they've only just claimed? or was it July this year?

Ant555

Is Admiral your current insurer / have you been with them for over 12 months?

July 2017 is in the period before your current policy started so were you insured with Admiral at that time?

VinayBondade

Hi All,

Thank you for the responses.

It is a mistake I have specified 5th July 2017, the claim has been made for an accident on 5th July 2018. It is typo.

VinayBondade

I am with Admiral since 4 years.

Admiral has advised that they will revert the no claim since 4 years status for next renewal but they won't reimburse me the extra premium I would be paying for this accident log in my record even though it is a case of mistaken identity.

VinayBondade

Will there be a problem if I choose another insurance provider and do not disclose this incident? As this is bound to be settled without any payment from my side.

VinayBondade

Other party has matching description of my car, the make and model matches mine. My insurer will not give more details about the other party.