InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident?

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Wed 15 Dec 2010 09:26
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - old_codger

I was hit by an insured third party on a motorway at night. No other cars were involved, and there were no independent witnesses. Quite a high speed prang, but remarkably little damage to my car.

The third party was quite shaken after skidding all over the road. When she calmed down we exchanged details and drove slowly to next services to examine damage. (We were both insured by the same ‘market leading’ insurance company, and I was relieved and pleasantly surprised when they confirmed that the third party had admitted liability and they were going to treat it as a no-fault accident.)

Imagine my surprise when I get a call no more than 48 hours after the accident from someone saying:

‘I understand you were involved in a no-fault car accident and have a whiplash injury. We can help you claim substantial sums following this type of incident.’

When I said there was no whiplash, but who were they and how did they get my private phone number, they put the phone down instantly. No caller ID.

I phoned and subsequently wrote to my insurance company to point out that there appeared to be a security leak in their systems. The insurance company have not responded.

Can anyone explain what happened to me? Are the insurance company in on this scam, or is it just someone in their call centre getting backhanders from an ambulance chaser? Either way, it isn’t surprising to me that personal injury claims are going up if this is commonplace as I guess given the circumstances I could have easily faked a whiplash and walked away with some cash to help with the ever increasing insurance costs.

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Wed 15 Dec 2010 11:19
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - gfewster

Your insurance company have sold your name, phone number and the information that you've recently been involved in a non-fault accident to a firm of ambulance-chasers.

Simple as that.

They might waffle on about data protection and not selling your details, but they do it anyway. Why? Because no-one enforces the law and stops them.

Same reason why we all get marketing emails/texts/letters/phone calls from the companies we do business with and others, despite always opting for 'no marketing' on the online forms we complete. Your preferences don't matter, they market to you anyway!

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Wed 15 Dec 2010 12:01
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - Collos25

Be very careful this happened to me and is still ongoing car reversed into me absolutetly no damage to any car letter from there insurance to say no claim will be made and the same from my insurance,5 months later I am approached endlessly by various companies with the same story as above imagine my suprise to recieve a letter from a firm of solictors to say the other party is suffering from severe whiplash and are claiming from my insurance and a court date has been fixed.My Insurance is defending it but I am livid that third party solictors can go around plying for trade and get people to purjure themselves and that I could lose no claims bonus .

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Wed 15 Dec 2010 13:33
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - old_codger

Thanks for letting me know how insurance companies operate! This is a major name, I really thought I could trust them a bit more than that.

Andy - thanks for your note of caution. I'll keep my fingers crossed for both of us. Amazing that they reversed into you, yet you are now held responsible for their alleged whiplash? I guess that it wasn't settled as 'no-fault' on your behalf at the time as there was no damage to speak of.

I think that I am lucky as the person that crashed into me was honest. There was damage, so we had to apportion blame. The other driver accepted both at the time and later on reflection that they were 100% at fault.. Its probably more common for someone to change their story after the event, once they can assess all the hard evidence available and work out if they can get off!

I tried to stack the odds in my favour in this case by retaining my sense of humour at the time, checking that the other driver was OK to continue and completing a (minor) roadside check/repair on their vehicle so that they coud carry on. (Oh, and making a full photographic record of the damage, the skid marks on the road and a secret voice recording of their roadside admission.)

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Wed 15 Dec 2010 16:01
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - FP

"I really thought I could trust them a bit more than that."

If you trust any insurance company, financial business or used car salesman I suggest you're being more than a little naive. They are all there to make money out of you.

Time to get a bit more realistic/cynical, methinks. Sorry - that's the way the world is.

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Wed 15 Dec 2010 16:36
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - bathtub tom

>>a secret voice recording of their roadside admission.

I think you'll find that's inadmissible, but the other party may not know it. ;>)

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Thu 16 Dec 2010 19:47
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - Collos25

" I guess that it wasn't settled as 'no-fault' on your behalf at the time as there was no damage to speak of."

It was apparantly you have 6 months to lodge a personal claim,the other party was probably rung up by one of the no win no cost solicters and told he has whiplash.

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Fri 17 Dec 2010 04:40
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - LucyBC

Insurers shift on non-fault claims to their "approved accident managers" who either pay them an annual kickback based on volumes or a kickback on a case-by-case basis.

The "accident manager" would have been looking to lay off any injury into a solicitors firm (for about £700 to the insurer) and getting you into a credit hire (probably about £500 to the insurer).

Insurers always moan about PI claims and credit hire costs but they are also a major beneficiary.

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Fri 17 Dec 2010 15:11
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - old_codger

Well its beginning to make sense to me, each insurer maximises a profit on a no-fault accident. So if I don't have an accident for 25 years of motoring, I'm much less of a good prospect than one who has no-fault accidents every year.

It doesn't make sense when the same insurance company is acting for both parties - unless there are competing departments in the same company!

It doesn't explain why insurers are prepared to pay large accident management fees or extortionate credit hire bills when their driver is at fault. If a repair takes 4 hours at a workshop and can be organised in 2 days, then why agree to pay a month of car hire bills on top? It also makes the argument on write-off as to whether my car is worth £1500 or £1750 rather pale into insignificance.

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Sat 18 Dec 2010 06:20
InsCo encouraging Fraud after No Fault Accident? - LucyBC

When they are both with the same insurer there are supposed to be "Chinese Walls". I suspect from experience, but have no figures to support, that more "same insurer" accidents go split liability in which case the insurer will pick up revenue from both parties in increased premiums.

The reason they continue to pay is that no one has the bottle to step off the metaphorical roundabout. They moan about it all the time but then pass on the cost to the motorist in higher premiums.

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