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Someone has made a false insurance claim against me - should my insurer be doing more to defend me?
I've been in France on holiday since 10 July 2017. On 15 August, I received an email from Admiral insurance saying they have been advised of a possible incident on 4 August involving my car, in which a third party is attempting to make a personal injury claim and a claim has been set up under my policy to investigate this. I telephoned the Claims Department and explained that I've been in France since 10 July. I was asked to send a copy of my ferry crossing ticket, which I did. This ticket is in my name and shows that I crossed with my car and am due to travel back on 4 September. I asked for details of the claim and was told that a person had made the claim through a solicitor and had shown a document naming me and purporting to show that this person had been given permission by me to drive my car. I was told by the Admiral Claims Department that it was claimed that the incident had taken place in Brixton, London on 4 August. I subsequently received another email asking if my car was with me or if it had been parked at an airport.
I became a bit concerned that the matter was not being dealt with efficiently and asked for further details of the incident and to have sight of the document alleging I had given permission. I was told that there was no more information available. I telephoned again and spoke to another adviser. He asked me to send a photograph of my car showing that it was in France with me, which I did. I copied in the CEO of Admiral and said that I did not think Admiral were taking this attempted fraud seriously and that I was being asked to prove my innocence rather than the culprit being pursued. Their reply was that all the evidence had been sent to the claimant's solicitor and a response is awaited which if not received, will be pursued "in the next few weeks". They also stated that "the matter of identity theft is a criminal matter (and) therefore it is not something we can deal with as your insurers and needs to be dealt with by the police". That reply was on 23 August and I have heard nothing further so far.
I became a bit concerned that the matter was not being dealt with efficiently and asked for further details of the incident and to have sight of the document alleging I had given permission. I was told that there was no more information available. I telephoned again and spoke to another adviser. He asked me to send a photograph of my car showing that it was in France with me, which I did. I copied in the CEO of Admiral and said that I did not think Admiral were taking this attempted fraud seriously and that I was being asked to prove my innocence rather than the culprit being pursued. Their reply was that all the evidence had been sent to the claimant's solicitor and a response is awaited which if not received, will be pursued "in the next few weeks". They also stated that "the matter of identity theft is a criminal matter (and) therefore it is not something we can deal with as your insurers and needs to be dealt with by the police". That reply was on 23 August and I have heard nothing further so far.
Asked on 4 September 2017 by Tyreless
Answered by
Honest John
As usual, the insurer is being lazy. This is not a case of "identity fraud", it is a "vexatious claim" that has no merit. They should be asking the third party solicitor for proof of damage to the other vehicle, incident circumstances, what damage was caused to their vehicle, and should be inspecting your vehicle at the very least to corroborate it has no damage. Admiral should be raising a counterclaim with this solicitor, reporting this solicitor to the SRA for participating in an "alleged fraud" on your person. Admiral should be pursuing this much more vigorously than they are. Report this situation to the Fraud desk: www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/topics-and-issu.../
You need to raise it with IFED and the IFB. In relation to communications Admiral may have made, do a subject access data request and ask for all copies of any communications that have take place with Admiral and the solicitor involved. Advise Admiral you "insist" this case is defended and wish to raise a complaint that it has not been so far. Then contact the Financial Ombudsman Service and raise a complaint with them.
You need to raise it with IFED and the IFB. In relation to communications Admiral may have made, do a subject access data request and ask for all copies of any communications that have take place with Admiral and the solicitor involved. Advise Admiral you "insist" this case is defended and wish to raise a complaint that it has not been so far. Then contact the Financial Ombudsman Service and raise a complaint with them.
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