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?

Sorry to hear what happened Polkadot and I hope you get it sorted now without too much more trouble. Something similar happened to me earlier in the year where I googled the number for my insurance after a car crashed into mine and ended up by mistake phoning a number that popped up. The business I phoned basically pretended to be my insurance and turned something that should have been simple (as the other driver was clearly at fault) into a big mess. Luckily I didn’t hand over my car and realised the next day when I phoned my own insurance and found they had no record of my last call. Really sneaky. They continued to try to phone me for a while afterwards.

Just a thought, if Churchill won't reimburse your costs, you can ask them what they are doing to protect their customers from these firms?
I think this is a lesson to all to dig out their paperwork and have their insurer's number saved into their phone.

Sorry, ASA = Advertising Standards Authority.

OP do you have your car ?

Ha.

Just googled company again...

ASA result comes on first page. It doesn't come top... because of all the newspaper articles covering the ASA ruling, shaming the company even more publicly.

Sorry, I know that doesn't help you with all the cost and inconvenience you're going through.

@Lockheart

That's why I said apparently. You are presuming that it isn't fraud despite the OP saying they led her to believe they were the insurer and have demanded money in return. Obviously proving it is another issue but that doesn't mean it's solely a civil matter.

There have been similar cases where companies have been successfully prosecuted for fraud for passing themselves off as other companies/ services

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-43309881

Also generally if you sign up for something online, you have 14 days to cancel. Say you want to cancel (especially as you were also misled) and they need to return your car forthwith, or you will take legal action to recover it.

I don't think I was clear when I was explaining what happened with Google. I wasn't taken to a fraudulent website pretending to be Churchill. I was on my phone and I clicked on the phone number link in one of the sponsored ads and the number took me to a marketing company and they led me to believe on the phone that they were Churchill and they put me through to Spectra Drive which is how all this happened

Same applies (ability to cancel) if you agreed to something over the phone.

Report to Trading Standards?

Which?

And 'Watchdog' (BBC). Am sure they would be interested.

Sorry this has happened, hope you get yo car back first and foremost. Then work out how to get your money back! This can't be legal.

I have the car back!

I just need to get the hire car collected now and then I can start my actual claim with my real insurance company and hopefully reclaim these costs too

Report it stolen. Tell police the guy who took your car refuses to tell you where it is. Give them his details they may be able to trace his address or company address depending on who registered phone so long as its not pay as you go.

Who is going to pay for the hire car, OP?

@ChicCroissant I don't know. This worries me too

Have you started the claim with Churchill?
I know my insurance had 48 hour to lodge it

I've just spoken to Churchill, they have started my claim properly and will arrange for it to be collected by their garage in the next couple of days

Unfortunately, they've said they won't cover the £468 so I'm not getting that back 😩

What a nightmare! It's easily done so please don't beat yourself up about it. I'm thankful you at least got your car back!

Just read the thread. Im gutted for you. It’s so horrible when these things happen OP. I hope you take action and report this as others have suggested. It’s so sad that Churchill won’t cover your costs but please don’t let their charlatans get away with it!

I think you should ring Gloria Hunniford or Dom Littlewood or Watchdog to make them aware of this. Think it's the only way you'll get your cash back and might bring this to industry watchdogs who will legislate against this practice.

Thanks for all the support earlier, I really appreciate it

I've spoken to the real Churchill again and they are arranging my hire car and to collect my car to be repaired

Even better is I spoke to a manager and she is going to try and get it authorised that they will pay the recovery fee (£250 + VAT) but not the storage (£140 + VAT) which is amazing! I'm keeping my fingers crossed because that make such a difference to me

Just read the full thread. @polkadotpixie what a stressful day you've had but you have a lot to be proud of-yes it was a silly mistake that set the chain of events off but look how well you've dealt with it all whilst dealing with anxiety. Hope you're evening has been more peaceful. Tomorrow is a new day and everything back under control.
The power of mumsnet-like having a network of detectives in your phone! xx

Joe Lycett would love to expose this type of shitty behaviour!