Weird Insurance Scam??

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Wed 28 Feb 2024 20:33
Weird Insurance Scam?? - Adampr

Today I received a text message and missed called from an insurance underwrite asking me to call them about an alleged incident I was involved in.

Having checked that they were indeed the underwriter on a now-expired policy and that the number they gave was for that firm, I gave them a ring.

Apparently, someone driving my car rear-ended someone at the beginning of September. It certainly wasn't me, and my wife says it wasn't her. The car has no damage at all.

All sounds very straightforward - either cloned plates or the wrong registration number. However, there are three aspects which don't make sense. Firstly, the driver identified himself as Mr Powell. That's not my name. Secondly, it was about 200 yards from my house, so sounds plausible. With just those two, you'd think someone local must have cloned my plates. Then comes the really weird bit - apparently, there's dash cam footage.

The insurers have requested the footage (bear in mind this was nearly six months ago) and I have sent them photos of the car to demonstrate (presumably) that it's not the same one.

So what do we think's going on here? The dash cam footage must show a car with my number plate, so I can only presume it's been cloned. Having done that, though, wouldn't it be a bit stupid to drive around in the same village crashing into people? Nobody has stolen the car, unless they subsequently repaired it.

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Wed 28 Feb 2024 20:57
Weird Insurance Scam?? - gordonbennet

Had two video/picture incidents in the past, one where a dogged police officer was convinced i was guilty as charged, and another where a parking charge mob got it wrong, they both needed to visit specsavers, completely different registration numbers, in neither case did they like having their errors pointed out.

Quite possible when you see the footage or picture your situation will be the same, or some fool has reversed up to your unattended car trying to make it look like you hit him, all sorts of weirdos out there.

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Wed 28 Feb 2024 21:14
Weird Insurance Scam?? - Adampr

It would be a massive coincidence if it was just mistaken identity just around the corner from my house. Unlikely to have been a reverser too; we've never parked on the road mentioned and the car is pristine. It's our Twingo and it's pretty flimsy, so I would expect to see something.

Also this week, someone reversed into my Karoq whilst it was parked and has scratched the bumper and broken a headlamp bracket. I could understand driving off after a tiny bump, but they must have really whacked it.

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Thu 29 Feb 2024 10:35
Weird Insurance Scam?? - Ian_SW

Two other possibilities I can think of.

1. Would be whether someone else has driven their car with your permission (a garage perhaps?) and did have a very minor collision which caused no damage. Given the amount of time, it could be a fraudulent whiplash claim rather than damage to the car.

2. Is that the other party has made the whole thing up, and the dashcam footage doesn't exist or has been faked (difficult but not impossible for video, pretty easy for stills). In that case, its someone fairly local who's just picked your car/numberplate and think they know your name - but have got it wrong.

The lack of damage on your car should be enough evidence - the insurance company may need to inspect it to be sure it hasn't been repaired. Chances are now you've flagged it up as possible fraud, people who actually think and investigate will be on the case at the insurance company rather than just those following the standard handle turning process for a valid claim.

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Thu 29 Feb 2024 17:54
Weird Insurance Scam?? - FiestaOwner

Most insurance companies require you to notify them of an accident within 24 hours. When was your insurance company notified? I would have thought it's too late for them to come after you now.

Be interesting to see the dash cam footage.

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Thu 29 Feb 2024 19:00
Weird Insurance Scam?? - Adampr

It wasn't a garage mechanic. Weirdly, the other car was being serviced at a garage on that road on the same day, but this one wasn't.

I'd love to see the dash cam footage too, but I suspect nothing further will happen. Judging by the very bored sound of the person who called back today, it's some kind of fairly common scam. She said "just don't worry about it now". From what I can gather some people collect registration numbers from a particular area then just pretend there was a collision and see if they get paid.

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Fri 1 Mar 2024 07:11
Weird Insurance Scam?? - honestjones

Yes, she’s right, don’t worry about it. But sometimes we can’t help but be scared or cautious because scams these days are getting more creative.

Edited by honestjones on 01/03/2024 at 07:11

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