Car insurance - fraudulent claim

richardadc

Back in July 2018 I was accused of hitting another car in a car park while parking into a bay. The speed was less than walking speed and I felt nothing in my car to suggest I'd hit them. They asked for money and I said it'll have to go through insurance as I didn't believe I had hit them.

They then claimed through my insurance company that I had caused a scuff to their bumper and had caused whiplash to to the driver and the passenger of the their vehicle. There was no damage to my car. My insurance company saw this as a fraudulent claim and let the claim go to the stage of court proceeding.

Forward onto today and I've been informed that the other party has now dropped the claim and that my insurance company is now trying to claim the legal costs off them as they believe it was fraudulent. The issue I now have is that I'm left with a marker that put this down as a no-fault claim even though it seems to be a case of fraud. This to me doesn't seem fair as it' seems to be raising my renewal costs. As such i was wondering if there is anything I can do to change this?

lisyloo

Have you asked your insurer to drop the marker as the claim has been dropped?
Did they refuse?

Your recourse is to make a formal complaint.
After you get to deadlock or a certain time period you can go to the ombudsman.

I’m just a lay person but seems unfair to have a claim against you when the claim has actually been dropped.

rudekid48

Does your insurer believe that the whole claim is fraudulent or just the injury claim? If the insurer believes that there was an impact then strictly speaking you do have a 'non fault' claim...

richardadc

I'm not 100% sure what my insurance company views are but from my point it felt all along like it was done to get money - nothing added up and thinking about it after it was almost as if they were waiting in the car for someone to drive in by the side of them. The letter I received states the below:

"...am happy to confirm that the other driver has now discontinued their claim

Whilst this means that the claim can now be logged as 100% non-fault the claim remains
open whilst we seek recovery of our legal costs due to the fraudulent element of the claim
made against your policy. As you are aware our defence was that there was no contact
between the vehicles or if there was it was so minimal it was not felt by you and that it
could not have caused the claimed damage or injuries alleged."

leviathan

They are leaving the door open by saying their might have been an impact.
However you phoned them and reported an accident to cover yourself.

So unfortuantely it will be down as a non fault accident with nothing claimed.




As if you had reported a hit and run to cover yourself and there had been no damage to your car.

Unfortunately when it comes to insurance you're damned for doing the right thing, but you even more dammned if you dont to save a buck, and they find out later had you not reported it.

lisyloo

leviathan wrote: »

So unfortuantely it will be down as a non fault accident with nothing claimed.

That isn’t my interpretation of the insurers text.
There is indeed a difference between a claim which affects no claims bonus and being loaded for a unclaimed accident/loss which may result in a loading but does affect NCD.

My interpretation of the insurers text is that the claim remains open (their words).

The OP can confirm and discuss with their insurer but often complaints go to a different department to be reviewed by a different team (whose objective are different) and sometimes that gets a result. It also starts the clock ticking for the ombudsman.

I actually don’t know whether what they are doing is deemed fair. Talking to the same team may be explanation but probably not a change. Starting a compliant will get it reviewed.

leviathan

If an accident is reported it can remain open for up to 6 months for the other party to get in contact or be traced or make a counter claim.
During that time the reporter might be considered to be at fault until the claim is closed off.
If nothing is claimed, it will then be down on your record as an accident reported, no damage incurred, no claim made.
But it will still be down as a reported incident.


That's been my experience when reporting a hit and run to cover myself, whilst not claiming any damage due to driving a clunker. The other party never made themselves known and I didn't get a reg. I also had to report to the police for they left the scene of an accident again to cover my behind, so I couldn't not tell the insurance company it had taken place.


Sucks to be honest.

richardadc

Thank you both. lisyloo, I'll take your advice and raise it as a complaint and see what happens.

leviathan, thank you for providing me with your experience. My view however is that an accident never happened in my case, I only reported that someone had claimed I had done so but I made it clear that I was under the belief that it didn't happen. With your case though it would seem you at least mentioned that an accident had happened even though it does seem somewhat wrong you then get penalised for mentioning it if no claim was ever made.

My personal view is that as fraud has been mentioned the whole entry should be removed.

leviathan

Unfortuantely you cannot prove that no impact took place and it would seem reasonable that something must have occured for the other driver to target you specifically.
The statement that they have made is attempting to leave that door open.
However they are also saying the claim is open due to them attempting to obtain costs.


Lets assume they get the costs back. They may well then decide there is accident to mark agasint you. Happy days. But you're not at that point yet and they are entiteld to leave it open pending those costs.


I'm not saying let it go. I would write to them and re-itterate that no impact took place and you take issue with them claming otherwise and ask what their plan is to do next should they not obtain costs.

CG19a

I had an incident last year where someone had gone to the police and said I had hit their car in my street and not left any details. About 2 months after the incident the police contact me, I explained I had no knowledge of an incident etc, but they said they'd investigate. They didn't give me any details of who was making the accusation. I contacted my insurer, Admiral, explained that the allegation had been made, they opened a claim in case anyone decided to claim against me, and then sent out a guy to take pictures of my car, and to examine if any damage, or if I'd had any repairs completed.

6 months later, no claim had been made, so I contacted Admiral, they closed the claim and issued me with a letter stating that I have had no claims and that my NCB is unaffected by this.

Mine is possibly simpler because the other side didn't make a claim, but my insurer still incurred costs from it, and have stated it won't affect me, so I definitely get in touch with them to ask more questions.