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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think they can't do this

17 replies

dealer · 12/04/2012 18:52

Someone claims that I drove into their car 4 days before christmas. They claim they know it was me because I made delivery to their next door neighbour that day.

I did in fact do the delivery, so was in the road, but definitely hit nothing. They contacted the firm I work for asking for my details, but actually they asked for 'his' details and said I drove a van. I am female and drive a red car.

My firm replied with all this, and asked for a description of either me or my car, a number plate, and a time of incident.

He has given none of these, but I now have had a letter from his insurance company to say that I have been found responsible and a claim is to be settled against me. They can't do that can they? Am I inadvertantly accepting responsibility by providing details to them?

If I lose my no-claims I may have to give up work due to having to have stupidly expensive insurance to do deliveries anyway.

OP posts:

JustHecate · 12/04/2012 18:55

their insurance company can't unilaterally decide that you are responsible, surely? I thought the two insurance companies had to argue it out.

If you have told your insurance company that this was not you, and in fact the person identified you as a man - they wouldn't settle, surely?

You need to contact your insurance company and ask them what is going on.

accountantsrule · 12/04/2012 21:21

Definitely contact your insurance company ASAP.

I know its a different situation but my dad hit a cyclist at 5am on his way to work once, it was pitch black the cyclist was wearing black, had no lights and pulled out when he should have been waiting at a red light. I know its different as the cyclist was an 'uninsured party' but the insurance company settled a claim against my dad and paid compensation to the cyclist (even though he apologised to my dad at the time and said he should have had lights etc etc). My dad didn't find out about it till changing his insurance a few years later when they said he was lying about never making a claim in the past! They did it all without him knowing!

happyfeet11 · 12/04/2012 21:21

I would be really surprised if they can do that. If you deny it your insurance co should close down claim.

faeriefruitcake · 12/04/2012 21:37

Contact the police, they are making a fruadulent claim against you.

CrockoDuck · 12/04/2012 21:40

Write to this insurance company, tell them you suspect this may be a fraudulent claim on their part and are considering contacting the police and ask them to supply all of the evidence they have that's leading them to conclude that you were responsible.

No - they can't just "decide" it was you, and how dare they suggest that they can? Cheeky shites.

whatsallthefuss · 12/04/2012 23:19

actually they can decide it was you....

I was reversed into by a bloke in a carpark while i was reversing down the lane. All of the damage to his car was on the back bumper.

all the damage to my car was on the rear wheel arch and rear side door.

I was held responsible and my insurance comapny refused to fight, becuase he had a witness who didnt see the accident and said that she didnt see it, but my insurance company refused to right and paid him whiplash and everything!

its probably a scam they have pulled before

BurningBridges · 12/04/2012 23:27

It costs the insurance company less to "give in and pay up" in terms of staff time etc., and then they recoup the cost of their indifference by putting your premiums up!!

One day I dropped DH at station for work, I had DDs in the car then aged 2 and 4 weeks, I was in my pyjamas - some bloke said I'd reversed into him and asked me for £1,000 to cover the damage!! He then said he thought I'd stolen the car I was driving?! What? In my pyjamas?! He was a right dick, eventually exchanged details etc.. I waited to hear - nothing happened after a few months so DH contacted our insurers and they said that DH had admitted fault on my behalf (he was on train when it happened?!!) on the phone and they had a recording. DH asked them to produce it, strangely it was lost. I then wrote and said the guy was trying it on asking for £1,000 in cash so clearly attempted fraud and they wrote back and said I should think carefully before making such a serious allegation.

Eventually they restored our no claims bonus. What a palaver. Definitely pursue it.

sashh · 13/04/2012 06:31

Contact the police about the fraud then raise hell with the company you work for, the blatently broke data protection rules. They should not be just giving your details out to complete strangers, how did they know it was about insurance and not a violent ex partner, an axe murderer or a stalker?

JustHecate · 13/04/2012 07:23

whatsallthefuss - they (the other party's insurance company) can't unilaterally decide it's you.

There must be an agreement between the insurance companies. Which is what happened in your case.

whatsallthefuss · 13/04/2012 09:06

except.... I wasnt wrong, my insurance company was wrong, yet i still had to pay for it!

so whoever makes the decision - one insurance company or both - the actual individual has little control over the situation!

ZonkedOut · 13/04/2012 09:13

Something similar happened to my sister, she was blamed for an accident in her street, but on that day her car hadn't left her driveway. Similar to the OP, the guy gave a description of her that was flawed too. In the end, she fought it and cleared her name, but it was a hassle.

dweezle · 13/04/2012 09:34

Similar happened to me - slight shunt with another car, minimal damage, then found out my insurance had coughed up £2K to other party without reference to me. I think the time is ripe for a major investigation and crackdown on insurers paying out just to close a file when there are clear signs that one party is trying to claim either fraudulently or over the odds.

The insurance industry pays for this by putting everyone's premiums up.

Friend runs a business and was sued when someone tripped down a step on her property - insurance paid out even though the claimant was drunk at the time and had no business being on the property anyway - unbelievable.

JustHecate · 13/04/2012 09:35

yes. That's true. But that wasn't what I was talking about. The OP didn't say anything about her insurance company being a part of this decision and appeared to be saying that the other insurance company had unilaterally decided she was in the wrong and would be paying. That is what, as far as I understand it, they cannot do and is what I was saying to her.

If it is that the two companies have argued it out (or not) and her company has decided to pay out, then that's different. But she said the other company decided that. I didn't think they could do that.

But I don't work in insurance, so could well be totally wrong.

coffeelover01 · 13/04/2012 15:43

Gosh some of these stories are scary. I am in a position at the moment where someone hit me whilst parked and drove off. I have a witness. Yet, other party is denying it and their insurance company is backing her up.
Really hope you get it sorted easily op.

mollymole · 13/04/2012 16:02

Insist that your insurance company DOES NOT SETTLE. Not too long ago we were contacted by a 'claims company' and they said that our registration number had reversed into a car and driven off,and whilst there was no claim for vehicle damage there was a claim for 'personal injury'. Now, this so called incident happened in a street that did not exist in the city in question and our vehicle had not been in that city. Note that the street they claimed the incident had taken place in DID NOT EXIST and still our insurance company were 'investigating'. They took off our no claims and we had to pay a lot more insurance, whilst they were 'investigating'. After a number of months pratting around with our insurance company and brokers doing not a lot I insisted that the 3rd party produce evidence to prove their side of the story. i.e. which street it happened in, the date and time,the type of vehicle we were supposedly driving, its colour and a description of the driver. Remember, the incident had supposedly taken place in a street which did not exist in the city, yet our insurance company were taking the claim seriously. In the end the 'case was dropped' as the claimant could not provide any information to
back up their 'claim'.
We were told that it is common practice for these con men to drive around streets, industrial estates etc, take registration numbers, vehicle colour etc and then follow you to see where you routinely travel and then use this information to make spurious claims. Until the insurance companies refuse to accept these type of claims without the supporting evidence of a police report number then we will keep having these situations arise.

AgathaFusty · 13/04/2012 16:12

Involve the police. Attack is the best form of defense sometimes.

stressheaderic · 13/04/2012 16:21

Horrendous to read some of the stories here.
Just to reassure the OP, I had a minor collision last summer in which I bumped in to a car in front in traffic at low speed, with no damage to either car.

I was gutted about losing my no-claims (11 years worth, not protected, couldn't afford to) and my insurance rocketing. When I came to renew, I declared the claim, but my insurance has only gone up by £1 a month and I only lost 2 years worth of no-claims - my insurer (Aviva) told me most drivers these days have a few points/a minor collision under their belts so they only take 2 years worth away.

(The occupants of the car I went into all made personal injury whiplash claims, as did the taxi driver in the car in front WHO WASN'T EVEN INVOLVED, but that's a whole other story which makes me furious)

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