To ask for help? I think I've been scammed and my car stolen!

[polkadotpixie]

I will try and provide all the information so the situation is as clear as possible

Basically, I had a road accident on Monday, a car ran up the back of me on my way to work

I googled Churchill's claims number but in my panic clicked on one of the sponsored results at the top of the Google search results

This turned out to be a marketing company that passed me through to an accident management company although I didn't know this at the time as they lead me to believe it was my insurer passing me through to a third party company to handle the claim. I now know this wasn't the case as when I called Churchill for an update they had no record of the claim

The problem I'm having is this accident management company called Spectra Drive arranged for my vehicle to be recovered and a hire car to be delivered

Once I realised what had happened I called them and ended the claim as Churchill couldn't start a new one until this was done (Spectra Drive were very rude and unhelpful at this point) and said I would need to contact the recovery company to arrange to get my car back

They gave me a number which goes directly to voicemail every time and refused to give me the address so that I can get my insurer to collect the car. I have googled/FB/Gumtree/Whatsapped the number and there is no record of them anywhere

I have also called the actual man who collected my car on his mobile who also refuses to give me the address without permission from the recovery company who I can't get hold of

I feel at this point they have essentially stolen my car. I have a 1 year old and rely on it to drop off my son so that I can go to work as there are no buses from mine to where he goes

I also have PND and anxiety and I have literally been up most of the night having panic attacks as I'm so worried that I'm either not going to get my car back or it's going to cost me a huge amount of money to do so as I'm struggling financially already

I just feel that no one will help me. My insurer will pick up the car and process my claim but no-one will tell me where it is. All I know is it is at a garage in Nottingham (I'm in Leicester) and I only have a first name and mobile number of the guy who collected it and he won't release the address without permission from the recovery company who don't answer the phone (both me and my insurer have requested this several times)

Please don't bash me or tell me I'm stupid, I already know that 😩

Any advice as to what I can do?

Spectra Drive
Unit 17 Hurstfield Industrial Estate, Hurst Street, Reddish, Stockport, SK5 7BB

Could try driving a car upto there front doors and not letting the out until they give you your car back.

Their compliance officer / legal person is [email protected]

"A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and “thief” and “steal” shall be construed accordingly."

The OP clearly didn't mean to give them the car so if she doesn't get it back and can't get it back, I think theft applies even if she gave them the keys in the first place.

@Aridane I'm a bit confused as to why an accident management company would be FCA regulated in the first place - were they providing insurance or holding client money? Would you mind linking?

The only entry I can find on the FCA register is for Spectra Vehicle Rental - a different company to Spectra Drive (although run by the same people), and all it says is that it's no longer authorised but used to be. That's not necessarily an indicator of anything dodgy but could mean they ceased to provide certain services.

If you've asked for your car back and the recovery driver won't tell you the location then I'd call that theft. You have withdrawn your permission for them to have your car. I would speak to the police on the non emergency number of 101.

Get rid of the hire car as soon as you can. I suspect they may be charging a lot for this and your insurer may not cover it all if a big bill wracks up.

Sorry this is happening to you OP - same thing happened to my mum. She got the hire car but her insurance company wouldn’t deal with the cuckoo company, and basically washed their hands of her.
Have you got an email address do you can provide a written request for your vehicle back ?
Be careful taking receipt of the hire car you may be charged.

Police won’t get involved.

@Lockheart - the FCA took over the regulation of claims management companies in April of this year. Prior to then, if such companies were assisting with insurance claims, the would require an insurance mediation licence

Thanks all

I have spoken to the MD of Spectra Drive who was actually quite helpful and has managed to get me through to the recovery company

I've spoken to them and it's going to cost me £468 in recovery and storage fees but once that is paid they will release the car to me

Just waiting for her to call me back and give me the payment details and where to collect it from

OP, ask Churchill if that cost would be covered by your claim!

That’s extortion! I’d fight that charge. But I understand with your anxiety it might be a battle too much for you.

I’m glad you’ve found the car. You’re not stupid. X

Speak to Churchill - if nothing else, they can get the advert off their website

And was it the real Churchill website you looked at? Reason for asking is that the Churchill website carries a warning in the FCA website as nefarious companies clone the Churchill name, brand and website

I see, thanks @Aridane!

Glad you got through to them @polkadotpixie. I'd definitely see if your insurance would cover that charge though!

Why is it costing you money to get your car back from a supposed insurance company.

I would tell them to make the claim for storage from your insurance company.

This accident was not your fault and Churchill can make a claim off the other drivers insurance.

I hate it when you get these ads at the top of google.

I have nearly made a mistake of ringing one just to cancel an insurance policy when I was trying to find the number for Admiral. Checked the website name fortunately otherwise it would have cost me hundreds in call charges as they published a ridiculous per minute amount to ring the number.

I would recommend really being careful when looking up insurance company phone numbers.

I've spoken to them and it's going to cost me £468 in recovery and storage fees but once that is paid they will release the car to me

Do not pay this whatever you do! Listen to everyone on the thread and please report them to police/ Trading Standards

@oliversmumsarmy

The company isn't an insurance company. They are most likely a Claims Managenement Company and make most of their money using Credit Hire which is where, under certain conditions, they can provide you with a hire car, the cost of which can be recovered from your insurer.

It doesn't provide insurance itself.

The storage and recovery costs are added to the bill sent to the actual insurer.

It can be a bit of an unscrupulous business and some (but definitely not all) are very dodgy in their business undertakings.

I used to work for an Accident Management Company many moons ago and we were NOT like this and were often contracted by insurers to take over the failed hire from these companies.

Just to comment on PP's, this is a civil issue, not a criminal one so no point reporting to police.

@Ticklemeelmo and exactly what crimes would you report them to the police for? And exactly what breaches would you report them to trading standards for?

They're obviously unscrupulous, no-one's questioning that, but the amount of ignorance about what constitutes a crime and a police matter on this thread is unbelievable.

Anyway, it seems to be all resolved now, thankfully for the OP.

@Lockheart

and exactly what crimes would you report them to the police for? And exactly what breaches would you report them to trading standards for?

Fraud, unless the OP was made fully aware of the extortionate costs at the time of handing over the car.

Anyway, it seems to be all resolved now, thankfully for the OP.

If you call paying just under £500 for the privilege of getting your own car back then yes it's been resolved

Gosh I wouldn’t pay that.have you been to the police? It all sounds like a scam to get your money to me

@Ticklemeelmo if you think it's fraud, can you explain how, under the Fraud Act 2006, that would constitute a criminal fraud which would necessitate police involvement?

If you believe it falls under "failure to disclose", can you explain under what laws they have a legal duty to disclose the costs AND do you know that by failing to disclose that they intended to make an unlawful gain for themselves or cause an unlawful loss to another? Both of these conditions must be met for a fraud by failure to disclose to have taken place.

But seriously, it's not bloody fraud!

The claims management company would have tried to claim the fees from the other driver if they dealt with the claim. They are no longer dealing with the claim so I do think the OP is liable for their fees unfortunately.

At least the claim can start with the insurers now, hope it goes smoothly from here OP.

It's an uninsured loss op. Refer them to your insurance co and tell them to claim it back through them. If it's legitimate they will be able to get it from the other sides insurer. If they refuse make sure you put in writing that you are paying it under duress and that you will sue them for it if they insist on you paying in advance to recover your car. Then bang in a small claims form.

What paperwork did you sign? Did it make
All of this clear?

My husband has used accident exchange before and they were fine but maybe the insurers are clamping down on this sort of stuff.

Or the alternative I'd speak to Churchill and say you would like to go through the claim co - as you are not claiming off your insurance maybe better than risk losing the £450 as they will then get this all back from the other insurance co. Explore all of this before you pay them in case you have managed to contract yourself for something that you will then have to pay. It maybe that Churchill won't care.

If you google “report an accident Churchill” there are ads at the top of the page which take you directly to a free phone call. It does seem like a scam to me, as I can imagine lots of people will not realise and call them... and why would anyone want to call someone other than their own insurance company when all cars on their road have to have insurance in place already!?

This is actually the type of thing I can imagine happening to several people I know who keep getting scammed, it’s horrible how easy this is and how many ways this can happen.