RAC Slater Gordon

Markg2188

Yesterday I was involved in an accident and I contacted the RAC for help/recovery 
I selected the option have you been involved in and accident and it put me through to an operative who went through the detail of the accident etc 
I obviously wasn't at my sharpest as I'd just been involved in an accident but it turns out I wasn't speaking to the RAC it was actually Slater Gordon and by the time I realised I'd given then all the info regarding the accident including the other drivers details 
I was told I'd have to pay for my recovery by them claiming off my insurance which isn't true and I think all the details gleaned from me were for them to start a claim against ME! 
I'm not sure if this is firstly ethical and secondly if it breeches the data protection act as all the information was gained under false pretenses as I believed I was speaking to the RAC 
I'm posting this as a warning of what the RAC are up to and also if anyone has any advice on if I should make a complaint 

Herzlos

Breakdown cover almost never covers accidents - so the RAC would come and recover you but would expect to be paid for it. Whether that comes from you or from your insurance isn't really important but the assumption is you'll notify the insurance company about the accident and be claiming anyway.

sweetsand

Markg2188 said:

Yesterday I was involved in an accident and I contacted the RAC for help/recovery 
I selected the option have you been involved in and accident and it put me through to an operative who went through the detail of the accident etc 
I obviously wasn't at my sharpest as I'd just been involved in an accident but it turns out I wasn't speaking to the RAC it was actually Slater Gordon and by the time I realised I'd given then all the info regarding the accident including the other drivers details 
I was told I'd have to pay for my recovery by them claiming off my insurance which isn't true and I think all the details gleaned from me were for them to start a claim against ME! 
I'm not sure if this is firstly ethical and secondly if it breeches the data protection act as all the information was gained under false pretenses as I believed I was speaking to the RAC 
I'm posting this as a warning of what the RAC are up to and also if anyone has any advice on if I should make a complaint 

I have found the rAC to be very good as well as the AA and MB - this is from what I have seen/heard via family/friends etc.
As the rAC for a copy of your phone call and that should tell you what they said and if you need to take it further.
x

AdrianC

Are you 100% sure you phoned the RAC's own phone number?

You didn't google for it, and click on a "sponsored" (ad) link?

shaun_from_Africa

Markg2188 said:

I was told I'd have to pay for my recovery by them claiming off my insurance which isn't true and I think all the details gleaned from me were for them to start a claim against ME! 

Why isn't it true?
That is exactly what the T&C's of your RAC membership state:

If you have a road traffic collision involving another motor vehicle in the UK, we may be able to help you with the following additional services:

Road traffic collision assistance.
We can transport your vehicle up to 150 miles from where the road traffic collision happened but there is a charge for this service. We will discuss the charge with you when you require recovery after a road traffic collision and if you agree to proceed, the charge will be payable to us within 180 days. We can help recover these costs from your motor insurer or the responsible third party

https://www.rac.co.uk/pdfs/breakdown/310314-drive-uk-breakdown-terms-and-conditions.pdf

AdrianC said:

Are you 100% sure you phoned the RAC's own phone number?

You didn't google for it, and click on a "sponsored" (ad) link?

Slater Gordon do the accident management services for the RAC and when you call the RAC on the number they give to report an accident, and press the button for the required option, you are transferred to SG.

Markg2188

Hi thanks for the replys 
As far as a charge is concerned then if its in the terms fair enough but I wonder when they changed them as it didn't used to be chargeable 
The phone number I rang was obtained from my membership card so I'm 100% sure its the correct one 
I'm more unhappy that Slater Gordon are involved when I haven't asked for them to be i would never under any circumstances use a claims company or give them any of my details as I dont like them 

Sandtree

Markg2188 said:

I'm not sure if this is firstly ethical and secondly if it breeches the data protection act as all the information was gained under false pretenses as I believed I was speaking to the RAC 

You admit that you weren't in the best of mindsets and so maybe you didn't listen to the salutation when the operator answered the call? Though many third parties answer calls on behalf of other companies using the principles branding.

Secondly, if you look at https://www.rac.co.uk/legal-information/privacy-policy/part-2/member-breakdown you will see that they have already advised you that they share your data with accident management companies.

They are not looking to claim against you, they are hoping to manage your claim against the third party in exchange for commissions and fees from the companies they instruct and the third party insurer. They'll most likely be providing a general call answering service to the RAC for free for anyone in an accident to pick up the business of the non-fault and taking the fault calls in lieu of a commission to RAC (or in exchange for a lower commission)

strawb_shortcake

When I was in a non fault accident (RAC were my insurers) the police advised to let them recover the car so the other party would have to cover the costs, and if I was to call my insurers I'd be charged. Presumably if you are not at fault the cost could be recovered?

Sandtree

annabanana82 said:

Presumably if you are not at fault the cost could be recovered?

If you are not at fault any out of pocket expenses, such as recovery, can be attempted to be claimed back from the at fault party/their insurers. If you have legal expenses insurance then your insurers will do this for you/appoint someone to do it for you.

Unfortunately just because you have a right to recovery doesn't mean a recovery is always made if the third party turns out not to have valid insurance or turns out gave you bogus details. There is the MIB untraced and uninsured agreements that may respond in these circumstances but they have changed since I last did Motor Claims but in my day they didn't guarantee you got all out of pocket expenses back in all circumstances.

MinuteNoodles

Markg2188 said:

Hi thanks for the replys 
As far as a charge is concerned then if its in the terms fair enough but I wonder when they changed them as it didn't used to be chargeable 

At least a decade and a half ago. 2005 I slid off the road in heavy snow, they said there'd be a charge for recovery. Fortunately a farmer was up on the wolds with a tractor making a few quid dragging cars out of the ditches and the £5 I gave him was much more preferable to the £100 the RAC wanted.

Markg2188

Thanks for all the replies it looks like I need to pay more attention to the small print