AIBU to be suspicious of this call centre person and not believe that 'everyone claims this money?'

[dottytablecloth]

We received a call today about a road traffic accident dh was in with ds, other drivers fault. Dh and ds were not hurt, car badly damaged but other driver's insurance company paid and we haven't thought about it since.

We do not and never have wanted to claim as nobody was injured.

Today out if the blue a call centre person rang and knew about the accident. She said after every accident the insurance company sets aside £3K for an 'inconvenience fund' and people make a claim for it.

She said it wasn't a personal injury claim, but a different claim and we'd be silly not to claim. How did she even know about the accident?!

Despite it having nothing to do with injury she asked dh lots of questions about his back, doctors name and address and whether or dc needed calpol after the accident, did he seem off colour for a few days?

To reiterate we will not be claiming with this company, nor will we be telling lies about our son but isn't this weird? How did the company know about the accident? Is this inconvenience fund a thing that everyone knows about, except us, it would seem?

[EatShitDezza]

They don't actually know you have had an accident they just guess.

Apparently I'm owed from a loan I took out from the bank yet I've haven had one.

I'm owed for an accident I had 3/5/10 years ago. Must be bad as I don't remember it.

It's bollocks

[TalkinPeace]

SCAM
SCAM
SCAM
SCAM

SCAM
tell them nothing or you'll be harrassed by these people for years
if you DID give them info, make a note of it now and next time give directly contradictory evidence to scramble their system and deter them

[CiderwithBuda]

I have had an accident. Here in UK. When I was living overseas!

[piggychops]

Yep, according to them I was in an accident but I guess I must have had a head injury causing total selective amnesia

[Slowdownsally]

There's been quite a lot of coverage in the news about insurance companies selling data on people involved in claims/accidents, so I'd guess that is what happened.

Probably they made a lot of educated guesses about your circumstances and asked leading questions.

All sounds very dodgy and I wouldn't get involved if it were me.

[KnackeredMerrily]

When you put in insurance renewal claims online, you give details out like previous car accidents. It's pretty tricky to fully sign out of companies selling your data on. I never give out my correct contact number on renewal sites for this reason.

Another Mumsnetter had the same call recently about this "fund". It's bullshit.

Companies do often guess that you've been in an accident, at some point most of us have. But often they have bought this information.

[dottytablecloth]

But what do they get from it? I don't understand.

[Tistheseasontobepissy]

Your data has been sold on.

Companies buy it in bulks of thousands.

[mummytime]

We've had lots of calls about the recent accident someone in our household has had. Well the only one in the last 3 years was DH coming off his bicycle, no one else involved, because the rd was icy. Not sure who exactly we could sue? God?

[TalkinPeace]

OP
I get regular calls about my credit card PPI
which is a good guess
except I've not owed money on a card for years

[EatShitDezza]

They just phone numbers.

They might not even know you have had an accident. I usually say yes I have them ask them to tell me the accident.

Not once have they said I was run over at 11 because they don't actually know, they are just hoping you say yes and then give them the info they need

[Elisheva]

Insurance companies sell lists of people who have had accidents. The list is released every 6 months. We get 4-5 calls per week which tail off then start all over again when our details are released again

[dottytablecloth]

So do they make an injury claim and keep a huge chunk of the compensation?

[dottytablecloth]

knackered don't suppose you could link to that thread?

Would be interesting to read.

[TalkinPeace]

they keep about 40% of any compensation you get
AND
they all take fees

eg
I was hit by a lorry
I had to send my car in for repair
the insurance company agreed to pay
so the garage arranged me a stupidly expensive coke dealer's Merc with commission backwards
and then another car ditto
and I got LOADS of calls assuming I must have had whiplash

it ALL gets added into insurance premiums in the end ....

[MildDrPepperAddiction]

Why didn't you/your DH just end the call? You don't have to speak to them.

These people call me also. I've never been on an accident (thankfully ).

[MildDrPepperAddiction]

*in an accident.

[TsukuruTazaki]

It's a scam and they don't know you have had an accident.

I get these calls all the time. Tell them they must be mistaken as I don't even drive!

[dottytablecloth]

drpepper the person was very convincing and made dh feel like this 'inconvenience fund' money was ours and we would be silly not to take it.

[eurochick]

It is all bs. I get these calls. I haven't been in an accident. They just try their luck. There is no inconvenience fund although it is true that in many cases it will cost insurance companies more in legal fees to fight a claim than to settle it, which is presumably what the caller was referring to. It's not ethical to claim if you have no injury or loss.

[dottytablecloth]

We will not be claiming anything!

Just have never heard of this before.

Chancers.

[Summerisle1]

The basic rule to follow is that no reputable company does business like this. Reputable companies don't phone random people up offering them money out of the blue from non-existent funds. Of course they sound convincing. Otherwise they wouldn't manage to fool enough people to make it worth continuing, would they?

[Jux]

I get calls so often from these companies, telling me about some non-existent I've had, and if I say I haven't, they say someone in my family has, but they haven't either.

It's the same as the PPP twits.