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Wed 5 May 2021 22:28

Help/advice - MrsN11

Hi I’m not sure if this thread is in the right place so it’s a long bizarre story, so basically we was in a car accident on 27th March at 17.39 the other driver who was actually breaking covid restriction laws at the time pulled out and his the back left passenger door.

Now we’ve never been in an accident and sidi t know what to do or what was going on we was in total shock the driver comes over and the first thing he says is don’t phone the police. Then he wants us off the main road we were still in so much shock we just went along with it.

We pull into a side street still shaken and shocked and then all of a sudden there were three large males and a denial surrounding us in our faces scaring us being intimidating and shoving there phones in our faces filming. It was getting rather heated and they were blocking us from leaving until I said I was at fault.

In the heat of the moment because I wanted to get me and my partner out of the situation I just said yeah it was my deleted fault can we just go on our way now. Two days after the incident we got a letter that looked fraudulent, the information was wrong and it just didn’t look or feel legit. Then nothing we phone ours up and they said they were still chasing them.

Then today they have edited and cut the footage to make it look like all I’ve said it it’s my fault they have left out how they were etc and now I don’t know what the hell to do. I’m loosing my mind we won’t be able to afford the car anymore. We have 7 children and other on the way and 3 children with disabilities so we rely heavily on the car.

I just feel so angry and like they set the whole situation up. What can I do? Would that admission be binding even though they have make it look quite bad on my part? I was just so scared and wanted to leave please tell me the truth, am screwed? I asked them to send the entire footage but they are saying that’s it which is a lie please help me I’ve never been in this situation before. To be honest I don’t even remember saying it it was all such a blur and we were both so frightened and intimidated my brain was just thinking about getting away. Thank you.

[Edited to insert some paragraphs as you're more likely to get some replies if it's a bit easier on the reader, moderator]

Edited by Xileno on 06/05/2021 at 10:00

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Thu 6 May 2021 10:07

Help/advice - MrsN11

I have photos to show the damage to our back left passenger door and the damage to their front right head light bumper to the side abit

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Thu 6 May 2021 10:39

Help/advice - daveyjp

The reason you have insurance is for them to deal with claims after an accident.

Have you reported it to them and started a claim? If not do so today.

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Fri 7 May 2021 16:17

Help/advice - MrsN11

Yes our insurance know everything we just don’t know what to do the footage clearly shows it starts while a conversation is happening then you hear the other driver say come now come on he then grabs my partners jacket as if to pull him away (but he makes sure to angle his phone so you don’t see that but you can kind of tell he gets pulled) it at this point my partner just says yeah I think I was in the wrong lane you looked and didn’t see me and then he lets go of his arm you can see me in the background and I look petrified they have cut off the arguing back and forth about who’s fault it was us saying please we just want to swap details and go my autistic son was at hone having a crisis at the time it’s like they somehow knew we didn’t have time. I’m so stressed about it all I’m not sleeping I’ve told them we don’t accept reguardless of the footage and I’ve told them the situation at that time and told them id rather go to court then let them get away with it, the whole thing just didn’t seem right it was all so suspicious I’m now wondering if its one of those crash for cash scams but I do t know how I can prove any of it ??

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Fri 7 May 2021 16:45

Help/advice - jp2021

Whilst this may not have started as a cash for crash scam it almost certainly is one now. After years of working in motor insurance these cases are far from rare now.

Advise your insurers you believe any third party claim may be fraudulent and share all this information with them . They will have a department that only deals with fraud .Insist on speaking to them . There is also a separate insurance fraud phone number to report information on . Your insurers would like to hear about this as soon as possible before payments are made to any parties.

You should make a full statement to the police that the admission was made under duress .

Understand that if any of the information given by you is altered, incorrect or exaggerated there may be serious consequences so be precise in your statements.

Whilst you can't prove this is a scam, insurers have relevant skills to make suitable enquiries.

Edited by jp2021 on 07/05/2021 at 16:48

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Tue 18 May 2021 09:15

Help/advice - MrsN11

Thank you, we’ve never been in this situation before and don’t have a clue about insurance etc the person who’s meant to be on our side emailed saying we should give up and that going to court would be fruitless as they would look at the footage and that’s that but I was telling my mother in law I can’t just let it go.

I feel so strongly about it the footage they gave was about 7-10 seconds they were filming for at least 30 mins they have cut of all off to make my partner look so bad I’ve told the people dealing with ours we don’t agree and even though they have footage we don’t accept when it happened.

We were at the lights stopped and due to road works was actually in the wrong lane we indicate and a van signals us to go and we all move off it’s further up when the other driver pulls out and they just hounded and hounded us it was the worst experience of my life.

We both felt scared they were 3 big males very flash and just very intimidating I’ve asked the people dealing with ours to get the engineer reports as surly they can tell from the damage but it seems like they are doing nothing to help us and just want us to give up but I feel we shouldn’t let them get away with it.

The whole situation was just so bizarre and frightening I’m still having sleepless nights over it I’ve become so low in mood and depressed it feels like I’m battling my own insurance when they are meant to be helping. Thank you so much for replying and for your advice I really really appreciate it. ??

[Put a few paragraphs in so it's a bit easier on the readers, moderator]

Edited by Xileno on 18/05/2021 at 11:43

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Tue 18 May 2021 09:46

Help/advice - MrsN11

Also we did phone the police when we got back on the day it happened they said because it wasn’t a serious accident they wouldn’t get involved and if anything untoward happened that it would be the insurance that would contact them, can we still contact them even though it’s been about 8 weeks since? Thank you.

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Sat 22 May 2021 19:13

Help/advice - MrsN11

Hi so I contacted the IFB and I got a pay out cheque this morning and I’m confused because they were saying only a week ago they wouldn’t pay out because of the footage but I explained everything to the IFB and then this with you having worked in the motor insurance industry I was wondering does this mean they were found to be fraudsters as we’ve had no emails or anything just the cheque with a minimal letter. Thanks.

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