Need advice. Car claim. It wasn't me. Now police involved. I need some advice please.

[Spagbolfortea23]

Sorry I know this isn't a AIBU but posting for traffic.

To cut a story short. This has been ongoing for a few weeks now.

Someone put a claim against my insurance saying I hit their car. I didn't. Not only was I not in that town, I wasn't even in the country in which this happened. I live in another country within the UK. I bought my car in March last year. It has never left the country i live in since then. (Neither have i)

I have disputed the claim and all I keep hearing from the under writers is the third party hasn't got back to us yet in relation to my dispute. I have spoke directly with my insurance who have said they have emailed the under writers to say they believe the claim against me to be a case of mistaken identity.

Today I received a letter from the police from the area in which this apparent incident happened. The letter states that I may of committed an offence, the offence being dangerous driving and that I have 28 days to provide information on who was driving the car. Again, me and my car were not involved in this at all.

I haven't been able to speak with this police force as the department is only open 2 hours a day and I'm getting no where with my insurance. Can anyone give me any advice on how I can handle this.. where to go from here? What's the best thing to do first ?

This is taking up so much of my time and is already costing me money in terms of my insurance. I had to renew my insurance very recently with this claim against me. I have lost 2 years of my no claims bonus and my insurance has went up by £20 a month. Its becoming quite stressful defending myself against this.

I worked in the RTC team for 15 years until recently. The person providing the registration may have got a digit incorrect 56 instead of 58, A rather than H it’s easily done. Just return the s172 with a covering letter explaining that you were elsewhere. If you can evidence it do, but if not don’t worry too much. Take a copy of your response and send it signed for so you can evidence that you have replied. Ask for confirmation that they are no longer a suspect. Also tell them where your car would have been, on your drive, employers car park, wherever. If it’s possible someone could have had access to your keys and vehicle, speak to them before responding - it has been known that someone borrowed a car. If there are any stickers etc on the rear of the car like a garage sticker in the rear window or the country’s badge on your number plate include a photo. Unfortunately with the insurance company until the police or ‘victim’ contact them you have to wait. Finally, if you haven’t heard 4-6 weeks after replying email or ring then for confirmation that they have received your letter.

Thank you for this.

Is it possible someone has "cloned" either your car plates or your driving license? Have you recently bought that car? Check its ID number.

Google maps if it is on will have your location on the date in question. I'd do a screenshot of that for the day and attach it.

Just remembering years back . police at door in the middle of the night to tell us our car had just been involved in a crime.
It turned out to be our ex-car, one we'd sold months earlier to someone we didn't know ( paid in cash) who (for obvious reasons) had not bothered to register the change of ownership....

Op did the accident happen during a time you owned the car? I’m just asking as my sister put in a claim on an insurance policy (other driver at fault) in early 2020, which was resolved as far as repairs and comp cars went but 5 months ago she was still getting letters asking for proof of the “alleged” accident because the other driver has retracted his claim that he was at fault. (We had eye whitenesses etc) so im not even sure what or who is supposed to be gaining from that! But she since sold the car, long gone.

Could it be that the claim is against the former owner? Do you have the log book details - do you know where the car was used and parked before you?

in any case, the best thing to do is log everything in writing, call the police number you have but follow up the paperwork, filling out with an attachment.

alternatively you could call the non emergency police number and put in a report that you believe your car may have been cloned, they may even have info on record.

this is hugely frustrating for you but you need to take ownership of the situation as it stands and ask those you speak to - how do I get this resolved? Who do I speak to? I’d then look into getting my insurance reinstated to make sure you get your no claims and lower premiums back!

@Soakitup37 @2bazookas I bought the car in March 2022 so i have had it for 10 months. I am the registered owner and have all the documents. I bought it through arnold clark. The strange thing is, the previous owner lived, I assume, in the area in which this incident happened. I only know this as my car broke down last week and I was looking through the service log and spotted that it was serviced in the same town as this apparent incident.

And sorry yes @Soakitup37 this incident happened a few weeks ago.

Thank you for this @AlisonDonut . I have just checked and at the exact time of the incident google maps shows that i left my home address to drive my dd to a hobby. It also shows that I was in there for an hour and drove to shops in and around my area where i live afterwards. I have screenshotted and will print out.

Take photos of your car (all around it to show no damage) or ask your insurer to send out an assessor to do this for you (the latter is the better option as they will provide a report that can be used in court if needed). In addition to the other advice given by PPs, this will help to prove that your car has not been in an accident.

@Spagbolfortea23 Hi OP - did you solve the mystery yet?

That makes a cloned plate sound more likely to me. Whoever has it will have looked to steal or copy a number plate on a car of the same make/model/colour as the one they were driving, so probably looked around near them. Got yours while it was in that area and have been driving around with their false plates since before you bought the car.

Hi everyone, I really need an advice and a good solicitor to represent me . It's to do with cosmetic surgery and negligence. Thank you

Start your own thread, you'll get a better response

This happened to my Mother years ago, police letter about a speeding offence.. in Kent. We lived in Manchester, had been no where near Kent.

It was a simple error, someone had got a digit wrong on the registration number. Simply sending a letter stating she wasn't there and some evidence showing where she was, and it was sorted out.

I agree it’s probably an error in the registration. This happened to my DD when she was at uni. I was still paying her car insurance.

I/she got a letter from the car insurance asking for details of the accident that she had been involved in. After checking with my DD, I called the insurance company and explained this was nothing to do with her. Insurance company said no problem, they’d sort it out.

Six months later, I ring to renew her car insurance and find the premium had gone up nearly £500! The earlier problem had not been dealt with, and the price rise was because of the ‘accident’.

In the end they had to send an assessor down to look at the car. The accident report stated that damage was done to the front of her car. The assessor took one look and could see that no repair had ever been made, and it was all original body work.

I wondered if something dodgey had happened, but he said it’s usually just someone wrote the registration wrong.

Hope it works out Ok, it was about three days of worry for me.

@wordler yes all sorted finally. I called the police who sent me the letter and the lady dealing with it all called me back a couple of hours later explaining she reviewed the cctv and the person had gave them a wrong digit but weirdly gave them the wrong colour and model of car aswell (giving them mine) - she was apparently adament it was my car that was involved. Very strange. The lady who called me was really apologetic and didn't sound very impressed with the person who reported it incorrectly. Received a letter today confirming it was nothing to do me with and have uploaded it to my insurance. I'm relieved it is all over with as it had been going on for weeks with the insurance companies.

Great news. Alls well that ends well. On an initial read I was thinking cloned plate, but now we know it’s just a numpty or fraudster

You say the car had been serviced in the town previously.. I wonder if its the previous owner making the claim 🤔

@Theyhaveallbeenused2 now there's a thought I never considered. The first women I spoke to at the police, when telling her that the previous owner lived in the area and i felt that was more than just a coincidence, she agreed with me that something just doesn't quite add up about it all. But that's for the police to deal with now and whether they look further into that or not, I'll never know.

Possibly someone has misremembered the number plate and then looked at the MOT check for the DVLA to get the car model and colour to make themselves sound more convincing.

They are idiots.

Someone that saw a collision and tried to memorise a registration number of a moving vehicle and made a mistake is hardly an idiot. The collision happened, the victim wouldn’t be trying to be convincing they want the offending driver dealt with. They will be pleased that the correct details are found as if they weren’t the matter would be closed no further action.

wijjjy isn’t calling them idiots for trying to memorize a registration number in this scenario but for lying about seeing the make and model of the car - by using the MOT check instead of being honest about what they could recall.

When the car was up for sale when you bought it was the registration showing. Your car reg has definitely been cloned and don't be surprised if you receive multiple speeding fines at outrageous speeds until they catch the person. It's a royal pain in the arse. Does anyone have CCTV on your road that could evidence your car was at home the date and time of the incident

Nevermind all sorted 😂