An inflated insurance claim has been made against my wife - is this fraud? | Ask Honest John

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An inflated insurance claim has been made against my wife - is this fraud?

Last April my wife reversed into a car in a car park. She broke her own car's rear light, but caused little - if any - damage to the other vehicle. She admitted liability and asked the owner to point to any areas of concern whilst she took photos. He wasn’t so concerned at the time. No damage was visible on the photos. She then received a notification from her insurance company that the third party had claimed for £3000 damages. She admitted liability but supplied the photos. Despite this, the insurance company is honouring the claim. Furthermore, despite already admitting liability to her insurance company, she has now had a letter from her insurance company’s lawyer asking her to sign a statement of liability within seven days. If we accept there was little or no damage to the third party vehicle, surely a claim for £3000 is fraudulent. Is her own insurance company complicit in this act? Also, what’s the relevance of a lawyer contacting her in an otherwise straightforward case of minor collision involving no personal injury?

Asked on 22 January 2018 by angus.mac1

Answered by Honest John

Yes, your insurer is complicit in a fraud. They should be defending the claim. There is case law in place to assist them in doing this where a vexatious claim is occurring. They are not defending due to the cost involved. The relevance of the insurer's lawyer contacting you is suspicious, this will be because the other party are taking your insurer to court unless they have this written statement from you. Raise a chief executive complaint with the insurer, and also raise your concerns with the City of London police (www.cityoflondon.police.uk/advice-and-support/frau...x, the ABI (www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/topics-and-issu.../) and the IFB (www.insurancefraudbureau.org/cheatline).

Tags: fraud insurance claims legal issues

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