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Original poster

3rd party claiming I have been in an accident 160 miles from where I live

29 replies

Brezel · 15/04/2023 17:15

I’m not sure if anyone has any advice for me. I got a phone call from my car insurance company saying a 3rd party has claimed I was in an accident in March. The place where the accident is alleged to have happened is 160 miles from where I live. On the day in question I was working and used the car for work. I can prove where I was but I guess can’t prove where the car was 🤷‍♀️.

It’s very bizarre. My insurance company have asked if I’m willing to go to court, which I am as I know it wasn’t my car, but I feel a bit worried.

I’m hoping it will just be dropped as they won’t have any proof. How can they have as it wasn’t my car. Could it be just a number plate mix up? Or should I be worried my car has been cloned and I should I inform the police?

OP posts:
WhoWants2Know · 15/04/2023 17:28

Surely the fact that the car is undamaged is proof that you weren't involved in any accident?

AlisonDonut · 15/04/2023 17:30

Have you got the Google map for that day, proving you were 160 miles away?

Send that and any other evidence that you were at work that day to the insurance company and tell them it is nothing to do with you.

Original poster
Brezel · 15/04/2023 17:31

Yes and I’ve taken photos for my insurance company but as it was 3 weeks ago they said they may have to send someone to inspect it! I’ve said that’s fine as I have nothing to hide.

OP posts:
Original poster
Brezel · 15/04/2023 17:33

I have an Apple Watch and have tracking that shows where I was (160 miles away). But I’m thinking not where my car was or am I overthinking it.

OP posts:
VeniVidiWeeWee · 15/04/2023 17:38

Possibly a cloned number plate?

Bunnichick · 15/04/2023 17:43

If you're telling the truth then go to court and say what you've told us. They have to prove it's you.

KingofCats · 15/04/2023 17:45

If you have proof you were at work and you’re the only person insured on your car, they’d have an uphill struggle to prove it was you! Do you have a partner or a boss who could also give evidence saying you drive to work. Any workplace security camera footage you could request?

KingofCats · 15/04/2023 17:46

Also they’ve got to sue the person driving not the car, so your Apple Watch evidence is fine

Original poster
Brezel · 15/04/2023 17:54

Thanks for for all the replies.

I’m self employed and work alone, but I can evidence my whereabouts on the day.

Do you think I should inform the police of the cloned number plate or wait to see if it was an incorrect number plate. My insurance company didn’t have many details of the incident so maybe the 3rd party wrote the number plate down incorrectly.

OP posts:
LIZS · 15/04/2023 17:55

Brezel · 15/04/2023 17:54

Thanks for for all the replies.

I’m self employed and work alone, but I can evidence my whereabouts on the day.

Do you think I should inform the police of the cloned number plate or wait to see if it was an incorrect number plate. My insurance company didn’t have many details of the incident so maybe the 3rd party wrote the number plate down incorrectly.

Worth a call to 101. May well be a mistake like wrong colour or a digit out but could be criminal.

FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 15/04/2023 17:59

Hopefully they have just written the reg down wrongly/someone at the insurer has typed it wrongly. In most accidents now you expect to see photos of cars at the scene.

Nocaloriesinchocolate · 15/04/2023 18:17

Do any of the places where you were with your car that day have CCTV, that, if not wiped, could show the location fo your car?

Thelittleweasel · 15/04/2023 18:20

@Brezel

"Of course" you go to court taking someone from you HR department ["etc"] with their record showing that you were at work at the time! They are saying that "you" were driving. In effect it matters not where "your car" was. There will also - no doubt - be CCTV of the car in the area that you say it was.

Chchchchchangesss · 15/04/2023 18:22

It's overwhelmingly likely that someone's taken your reg down instead of the correct one at the scene of an incident. I wouldn't ring the police unless your insurance company tells you. It happens all the time.

strawberry2017 · 15/04/2023 18:22

I wound inform the police. It's one of those things I think is better that they know then don't know. X

BronnauMawrion · 15/04/2023 18:26

I used to work in car insurance. This situation happens more often than you may think.
You pay your insurers good money to deal with this sort of thing for you, so let them handle it. Email or phone them every couple of weeks to chase them up ("the squeaky wheel gets the oil"), but ultimately they do not want to pay out and so can make it go away.

Oojamaflipp · 15/04/2023 18:34

Is there anyway you could find out what make, model and colour of car they believe was involved in the accident? If the plates were cloned or someone wrote the number down wrong, chances are it won't be the same as your actual car.

StepAwayFromTheBiscuitJar · 15/04/2023 18:34

I read another thread about exactly this a few weeks back. OPs boss called the police and confirmed she had driven to work that day. Either way there's no way they can prove you werr at the scene of accident if you weren't.

3dogsandarabbit · 15/04/2023 18:35

Surely the people involved in the accident would have exchanged name and address details.

BlueThursday · 15/04/2023 18:39

Yes, even if they can prove “your car” was there they can’t prove you were

you can, however, prove where you were which is the key

Thelondonone · 15/04/2023 18:40

It’s likely a wrong number plate. Written down I correctly or less likely, cloned. My insistance company said my car was being driven as a taxi by an Asian taxi driver about 20 miles from my house. That day I was actually 200 miles away at the beach. I assume they sorted it somehow but it never came back to me.

Redglitter · 15/04/2023 18:42

Its most likely the person involved has written down the vehicle reg incorrectly. It's really common.

I know its easier said than done but don't worry. You've told the Ins company it wasn't you. You've fully cooperated, it's up to the other drivers ins company to sort it out now

Skybluepinky · 15/04/2023 18:50

This happen to a friend who was on a course at a police station, they just got proof they were on the course and photos of the car in the carpark.

FloatingRodger · 15/04/2023 19:15

There have been several threads like these recently. Never sure if people are giving the wrong reg number deliberately or by mistake - worth searching on MN for similar stories!

mrswhiplington · 15/04/2023 19:29

I had the exact same thing happen to me a few years ago. I had to send my insurers photos of my car to prove it wasn't damaged. It took them a few weeks to sort out but I never heard anything else after that. They did register it as a claim on my insurance but thankfully I had protected it.