Insurance Fraud by Reg and Advert Details?, Scam Insurance Claim. Options

[Darksideofthemoo...]

I have a large fleet of vehicles.
What with one thing and another, too many at the moment and some are therefore for sale on Auto Trader and/or ebay.

Myself and young Ringway Les, are insured to drive all of them.

Les is a dab hand at selling the cars, something I have neither the time or incrimination to do.

These cars have attracted calls from people wishing to part-ex pretty much anything and also ridiculously low offers - commonplace.

When the callers enquire, Les runs through the history etc. and chats to the prospective buyer.


Yesterday morning, I received a call from our insurance broker asking about an accident involving one of the cars around 10 days ago.
They quoted the reg number and said allegedly, the car was being driven by Les.
"NO CHANCE!" Was my reply.

An hour later, a letter arrived in the post from an accident claims company.



Dear Mr Ringway

Claim Number xxxxxxx
Our insured Mr Ringway
Driver Les Rongway
Vehicle: XXXX XXX
Date of incident --/--/----

We have been instructed as claims handling agents on behalf of *** Underwriting Services.

We have received notification from the third party representatives advising that you were involved in an incident on --/--/----.
They have alleged you had an accident with an oncoming vehicle.
Details of the location are awaited.

It is noted that we do not appear to have received a report of this incident from you.

Therefore, in order for us to give further consideration to indemnity and liability, please complete the attached claim form.
Please also confirm if you are aware of any third party witnesses to the incident, or if you have Dash-Cam footage.

You are welcome to email your response to ***********@*******.co.uk
When replying, please confirm the drivers date of birth.

Alternatively, you may contact our claims notification team on ***** *** *** who will take a report of the incident over the telephone.

We look forward to hearing from you within the next 7 days.


I called Les and as expected, he said that the whole thing is untrue.

I called my broker, told them about the letter and the response from Les.
They said that this sort of thing does happen, and that they would work with my insurer to try to get the whole thing tapped on the head.
I have only just renewed the policy and my broker said that hopefully it will be put to bed before the renewal so that I don't have to pay any increased costs!

So, these scamsters don't even know WHERE the supposed incident happened, and yet the accident claims company starts the ball rolling for a fraudulent claim!
The car is absolutely unmarked and in my ownership has never been involved in any sort of incident.
Also, they have, on the letter misspelled our surname.
Alarmingly, the insurance company named in the letter from the claims company is MY insurer! They only insure on a commercial basis, so are not generally known to the public.

Also, how did they get my address to write to me? ASKMID apparently gives all this sort of information in such cases.


So, how has this happened?

Well, I follow certain car markets and have an account with BCA - nothing unusual there.
However, when I see cars advertised with reg numbers blanked out, I assume something a little dodgy, perhaps clocking or an unrecorded write-off that is to be hidden from a previous owner, or perhaps the trader doesn't want other traders to know how much, or how little, they are making on a car.

Perhaps covering the reg number is to prevent such fraudulent activity? Quite plausible now I come to think about it.


And now to the crux of this post.

With the reg number showing on an advert on Auto Trader or ebay, the fraudsters are halfway there.
When they call or email to ask about the car and you give them your name - quite easily done if replying to an email, they have ALL they need to start a claim.
Knowledge of your geographical location (easy from the advert) will make their claim more credible.

I very much wanted to call the accident claims company and stump them, but my broker has instructed me to wait to hear from my insurer by telephone before making any contact.



Please may I have some advice on how to handle the above?

Many thanks in advance.

Paul.

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[666]

You will almost certainly find that your policy requires you to send ANY correspondence about a claim to your insurers, unanswered. But nothing to stop you sending a covering letter to them airing your suspicions.

[Darksideofthemoo...]

Thank you.

I think that my insurer is aware by virtue of them being mentioned on the letter from the accident claims company.

If not, my broker advised that they would email my insurer and that I should await their response before contacting the accident claims company.

I just don't know why an accident claims company would start the ball rolling without even having the location of a supposed incident.

[cp8759]

I just don't know why an accident claims company would start the ball rolling without even having the location of a supposed incident.

Cos they're only subject to minimal regulation and it's easy money?

[Darksideofthemoo...]

I just don't know why an accident claims company would start the ball rolling without even having the location of a supposed incident.

Cos they're only subject to minimal regulation and it's easy money?

Quite possibly correct.

My broker said that if it is cheaper for my insurance company to pay out, than pursue the scammers and fight the claim, that the scammers will get paid and my unblemished record and no claims will be affected, resulting in a likely hike in premium.

How can that be fair?

I PAY for insurance to avoid financial risk.
The most it can cost is my excess or £75 for a windscreen replacement.

By settling to the scammers for an incident that never happened, I will be at a financial loss straight away and in the future, because it is cheaper for my insurance company.

By settling, they would be DELIBERATELY causing me financial loss when they have been PAID by me to protect me against such a thing,

This post has been edited by Darksideofthemoon: Sun, 17 May 2020 - 18:33

[cp8759]

To be honest many insurance companies have a zero tolerance policy towards fraud and will fight fraudulent claims even if there is a disproportionate cost, because otherwise they would open the floodgates. Indeed, there's been quite a few cases where some large insurers have pursued criminal prosecutions or contempt of court proceedings at very significant non-recoverable costs to themselves in order to get people sent to prison, simply to send out a message (they're by far the most entertaining judgments on BAILII simply because of how outlandish and absurd some of the defences are).

On top of that, the insurance industry is under a regulatory obligation to treat customers fairly, and the outcome you describe would blatantly be unfair to you. As long as you make it absolutely clear from the get-go that the claim is fraudulent and you want it to be dealt with as such, the insurer is unlikely to simply cough-up and pay. But even if it did, you'd be able to seek redress through the ombudsman (which is another reason why insurers don't tend to settle claims they suspect might be fraudulent).

[southpaw82]

(they're by far the most entertaining judgments on BAILII simply because of how outlandish and absurd some of the defences are).

Only outdone by the CRO/vexatious litigant ones. Though do a search for “Ghana Bunks” for some fun.

[Darksideofthemoo...]

To be honest many insurance companies have a zero tolerance policy towards fraud and will fight fraudulent claims even if there is a disproportionate cost, because otherwise they would open the floodgates. Indeed, there's been quite a few cases where some large insurers have pursued criminal prosecutions or contempt of court proceedings at very significant non-recoverable costs to themselves in order to get people sent to prison, simply to send out a message (they're by far the most entertaining judgments on BAILII simply because of how outlandish and absurd some of the defences are).

On top of that, the insurance industry is under a regulatory obligation to treat customers fairly, and the outcome you describe would blatantly be unfair to you. As long as you make it absolutely clear from the get-go that the claim is fraudulent and you want it to be dealt with as such, the insurer is unlikely to simply cough-up and pay. But even if it did, you'd be able to seek redress through the ombudsman (which is another reason why insurers don't tend to settle claims they suspect might be fraudulent).

Many thanks for the reply which I find reassuring.

[Darksideofthemoo...]

Many thanks for the replies and advice.

My insurance broker (my fleet is insured in my business name) had said they were fully behind me in the belief that the claim was fraudulent and that it should 'just disappear after around six months'.


My son Les, bought a car for private use and was quoted a high premium.
When he asked why the cost was so high, the insurer, RAC, said the claim was showing on the CUE Database!

I contacted my commercial insurance broker and they said the claim had never even got to the Cue Database as far as they were concerned.

I have since received a letter from my insurance company and broker to confirm to any interested parties, that the claim was fraudulent.
Also, the claim has now been removed from the CUE Database.

All the best

Paul.