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I'm going to lose my NCD because a man falsely claims I scratched his car - is there anything I can do?

After parking in a shop's car park, in the only slot available, I saw someone on his phone. I ignored him until he came up to me aggressively and accused me of bumping into his car. I told him I had not done so. My sister and brother-in-law, who were in the car too, confirmed I had not touched the other car. The man proceeded to bully me, claiming he had friends in the police. He would get my address and send some men round to my door to sort me out. He repeated that I had damaged his car and pointed to a vertical scratch below his door handle. I said it was impossible for me to have created a vertical scratch. He said he was going to call the police. I said fine, but he didn't call them. Unfortunately, my phone had run out of charge so I was unable to call the police myself. After some minutes of silence, I left the scene as the man continued to threaten me, despite my having done no damage to his car. In my view he was hoping to scam money from me. Some months later, he contacted his insurance company about it. I told them there was no case to answer, but he has continued to press his case. My insurance company have said they will probably go ahead and pay the claim he has made as he has now shown another scratch - not shown at the time - which indicated the truth of his case. I do not want to lose my no claims bonus to some bullying scamster. What can I do?

Asked on 13 March 2018 by Maureen A

Answered by Honest John
I fully sympathise with your plight. Tell your insurer they will be breaching the Financial Service and Markets Act 2000 under ICOBS 8.3.3 by acting in conflict to your interest. Advise them that you resolutely deny any contact with the other person's vehicle, and dispute the allegations. Your insurer can take the case to court and take action against the other party and claim their cost back for this vexatious claim.
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