To not want to just pay this

[Tututuna]

We have had the police at the door saying a month ago DH hit a parked car and the person has a couple of witnesses.

Their car is very damaged and they are asking for the money to repair it but do not want to take it to court.

The thing is, DH swears blind he hasn't hit anything nor is there a mark on our car. Whilst the accident did happen near where we live, DH was away with work from around 8am through to the evening.

Annoyingly he hasn't asked who the witnesses were or what time they said it happened so I need to find that out but AIBU to think that firstly, if someone's car is damaged enough to need hundreds of pounds worth of repairs, DH would be aware he'd hit it and two there would be evidence on our car of an accident?

I know most people say this but I genuinely believe him that he isn't aware of any accident.

The police have probably become involved as they would be able to find the owner/address via reg provided by the complainant. They probably haven't given your details to other party. Would obtain evidence from work as to where you were on the day in question, go to police and ask for details of date/time alleged incident took place. If not matching up give police your evidence to challenge complainant with.
The fact your car is showing no damage will be put down to it having been repaired in month since the incident. Has the other vehicle been repaired, was this through an insurance claim? Was damage reported to their insurance company even though paid for without a claim being made. We all know insurance companies insist on being told of any incident whether your fault or not. Sounds like a scam. Anyone you know of that may have a grudge against your DH.

The police can and do come to your house if you have left the scene after bumping a car. My friend recently bumped a car in the doctor's surgery carpark, she was already upset after visiting the doctors as she was still recovering from major surgery and said she totally panicked and drove home. The car she bumped turned out to belong to a member of staff and they contacted the police after getting the registration from CCTV.

The police visited her the following day, they were lovely with her as she said as soon as she opened the door before they even had chance to speak she broke down and admitted bumping the car. They just advised her to inform her insurance and not to leave the scene again.

My daughter was ripped off by a woman on a moped who sped round a blind bend next to a junction and her bike slid out from under her, right in front of my daughter who was approaching the T junction. The next thing we know is that the woman had taken my daughter's number plate and put in an enormous claim for personal injury, which she didn't need actual treatment at hospital for btw. She said she had several witnesses to corroborate her version of events, yet when the police went to interview them, two had seen nothing and one agreed with my daughter's account. We thought that was it until a year later, she brought a civil case against my daughter's insurance company, claiming thousands of pounds. They wanted to just pay her off but my daughter talked them out of it as she had enough evidence from the police officer and the hospital report to prove the woman was a liar. At least she thought she'd talked them out of it, she found out afterwards that they didn't dispute it and paid up. She was both fuming and deeply upset that it's now on her insurance record and her next quote reflected that. Make sure the police interview the witnesses and ask to see their statements. If you can get their names you can do a little detective work online to see if there's any links with the accuser on social media.

I'd advise doing absolutely nothing unless/until these chancers show up again. I'd be more concerned if your H was wringing his hands and begging you to agree to hand over a sum of money, as that would suggest that he had come up with this story to account for needing money for something dodgy (not a spurious car accident.)
Tell him that, if they come back, he's to get all the details possible, not hand over a penny, tell them that he didn't do it and that's that. Mostly chancers like this will back off and go looking for another mug.

Don't let it go. My dh did and now our insurance is up $100/mo.

I've had the police at my door before saying they'd been informed I'd hit and damaged a parked car on my road. They were given my address by the person who's car it was.
I don't drive, I don't have a car and I was on holiday at the time lol

When I was a newly qualified lawyer I acted for a lady who was hounded by two women for damage she’d caused to their car in a car park. Actually, the damage was caused elsewhere, and those women just cruises around until they found a similar coloured car with a few scratches, parked it up next to her, and pinned it on her. My client was so incensed that she got a forensic report done on both sets of paint. What does surprise me is the police involvement.

Similarly happened to my former SIL's father, self employed and relatively financially well off from his efforts. He was accused of running down a young person on his push bike in the nearby city, BIL could find no damage to the car whatever to suggest this was the case but W bought the kid a new bike all the same. The family think as W' vehicle was a luxury model, the kid probably got the number plate and then claimed the damaged bike. Hard to know but I would be asking for proof and naturally advising your insurance company to be on the safe side. Let them act on your behalf if it goes further...

Definitely think that you should follow the advise from the lady with the police officer brother...
Just wondering if going to the police station with a description of the two ‘police officers’ and the ruse might be an idea?
Sounds like everyone thinks it’s dodgy and a possible car payment scam, but have you just had your house ‘cased’ and maybe some other questions about the household’s comings and goings asked to your DH when they were there?

Why are the police involved? Wouldn't you hear from their insurers first and surely that would have happened before now? I think someone is trying to scam you!

Fake police are a thing!!

Fraudsters claiming to be police try to scam ppl out of funds...

No way I’d believe they were real police without independently verifying with a number I found myself or walked into a police station.

Good Luck

If he was away with work - it will be fine. Let DH sort out himself.

Did you contact the police, OP?

Just throw in a thought .... u weren’t there when the police turned up, they left nothing - no incident number or business card and there is no damage to the car but your husband wants to withdraw hundreds from the bank .............

If this was an episode of EastEnders hes’s ethics got someone pregnant and needs to give her money for an abortion, is being blackmailed about staring in a porn film / having an affair or visiting gay bars or he has a gambling problem?

Just saying!

Seriously though call 101, tell them your VRM and ask for the incident number for ur insurance company - then you’ll get the details you need.

This type of scam has been on the news recently. It's fraud m. Don't fall for it.

I had the police come to my door once for something similar. I had clipped someone's mirror and wasn't able to stop straight away. I drove round the block and found somewhere to park then went to the car and left a note. Someone had obviously seen me drive off but not come back and reported my number plate to the police. Neither the police nor I knew who the owner of the car was so nothing could be done! But yes, police do respond to such things.

Actually, I was hit by a white van in London and I took down the number plate. The police did contact the van owner who refused to accept he did it and the police said there was nothing they could do. So the police do get involved - but I would be surprised if they get involved at the level they are involved with you but you never know. But yes contact the police and ask for the evidence pointing out your car is not damaged.

@katseyes7 you are wrong. A collision between two vehicles, whether one is parked or not, is a road traffic collision. It is not classed as criminal damage when a car hits another. When a vehicle is concerned it is always an RTC. And if someone fails to stop at the scene then they can be prosecuted if the police wish. Where did you get your info that this is not an RTC?

Recent scams by bogus 'police' officers

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/bogus-police-officers-been-scamming-14356401

west-midlands.police.uk/news/conman-may-have-amassed-ps180k-bogus-cop-scam-police-appeal-trace-victims

www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/17210584.buckley-residents-urged-to-be-vigilant-after-two-males-pose-as-police-officers/

Sorry for the late reply!

I am waiting for a call back today. DH wanted to do nothing until/if we hear anything more.

If this was an episode of EastEnders hes’s ethics got someone pregnant and needs to give her money for an abortion, is being blackmailed about staring in a porn film / having an affair or visiting gay bars or he has a gambling problem?

laughing at the gay bars suggestion. I'll have to confront DH about that.

I witnessed this in a hospital car park. Massive bang of a car reversing into another. Driver stopped and then went to drive off. I told him that he hit the car and he said oh and carried on. I tried to be a good citizen and call the police and after wasting 30mins on hold/reporting was told that unless the owner calls them they couldn't care less despite me giving both registrations. Unfortunately I had no paper so I wasn't able to leave anything on a screen.

Would never bother again. Maybe it varies by police force as to what they do?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/9349616.stm

One night, negotiating a narrow street where there were parked cars lining both pavements, I bumped one very slightly, leaving a small paint transfer. The car was ageing and had several 'bumps', but I dutifully left a note under the wiper. Then I learned the Arab who owned it had gone ahead with a full respray of the car's nearside, blaming all existing damage on me! The insurers saw my note as an admission of guilt, of course, so I Iost my NCD (which I've always insured since). Think twice before admitting responsibility—some 'victims' will take you to the cleaners.

Just saw this posted by my local police on fb and thought of this thread:

There have been recent scams whereby people are posing, both on the telephone and in person, as Police Officers. This is so they can try and trick people into trusting them with personal information, in order to defraud them of money.

The below information is to make you aware of how to verify a police officer, in order to help protect yourself from criminals.

How we contact you

In the event a police officer needs to speak with you, they will identify themselves clearly. A police officer will only ever contact you for investigative purposes in person, by telephone or by email – we will never contact you by text message or instant messaging such as WhatsApp.

Contact in person

An NCA officer will identify themselves by showing you their warrant card. This is proof of their identity and authority.

Contact via email

Official alerts on issues such as compromised accounts may be sent by email. However, official NYP emails will NEVER:

• Ask for remote access to your computer
• Ask you to click on a hyperlink in order to participate in an investigation
• Send you unsolicited emails with attached file, especially zip or macro enabled Microsoft Office files
• Ask you for any login credentials or passwords

Identification by telephone

If you’re contacted by telephone it’s obviously more difficult to verify a police officer’s identity.

There are a number of things however that a police officer would NEVER DO:

• Ask you for your bank details or PIN
• Ask you to transfer funds to another account
• Ask you to hand over cash or bank cards to a courier
• Ask you to pay a fine or a fee to them or a third party over the phone or online
• Ask you for access to your computer, passwords or log on details over the phone or online
• Ask you to register personal details in an attachment or website online
• Ask you to “assist” in an investigation by doing any of the above
• State that you are committing a crime by not complying
• Communicate in an abusive, threatening or coercive manner

If you’re in any doubt as to the identity of a police officer, please call our Force Control Room on 101.

We strongly recommend that after hanging up you wait for five minutes before calling either the police or our Control Centre. There have been cases of fraudsters keeping the line open after a victim had hung up. Leaving several minutes between calls will ensure that the call has closed.

Stay SAFE

•Suspect anything or anyone you don’t know – no matter what or who they claim to be
•Ask questions. Whatever a fraudster tries, you have the power to stay in control
•Find out for certain who you are dealing with. Challenge anything that seems suspect
•End a situation if you feel uncomfortable. If you feel threatened call your local police on 101 or 999

For more information and advice about fraud visit www.northyorkshire.police.uk/fraud

@tututuna
What happened??