Obtaining money by deception following RTA - what can I do?

[trickyjoe7777]

Quick background story - mid-December last year I was involved in an RTA in Manchester. Had pulled into side of road and was stationary when someone drove into rear driver's side of my car. As traffic was busy I signalled for other driver to follow me a short distance down the road so we could safely pull in.

At this point driver began acting aggressively towards me, using threatening getures and shouting, and I became genuinely concerned for the safety of myself and my passenger. Road was unlit, at night time and in a not very nice part of town so I decided to drive to the nearest public, well lit place before begining any conversation with him.

Drove for approx 1/4 mile until came to a carpark that was well lit and there were pedestrians nearby. Whilst driving here, other driver repeatedly tailgated me, tried to overtake and continued to gesture.

Pulled into carpark and parked up - at this point other driver decided not to follow me into carpark, due I believe to there being members of the public in the immediate vicinity, and drove away.

Because of the stress I had not managed to obtain either registration number, nor make and model of his car, and was unaware of where the accident had actually taken place (am unfamiliar with Manchester). Checked my car for damage and was only a tiny scratch which subsequently came out using t-cut.

Given the above, and the fact that neither myself nor passenger were injured, I took no further action.

A week later I received a letter from police (NIP) - I contacted the PC immediately and explained exactly what had happened. She stated other driver was claiming I had reversed into him and caused £7,000 (!!) of damage to his car. After I gave the correct version of events she stated that she would be taking no further action as, in her word, "he's obviously trying it on".

Around same time I was informed by my insurers that they were dealing with a claim from other driver's insurance company. Again, explained what hadd happened and filled in all forms sent to me, my insurance company confirmed that they would be rejecting the claim.

Thought that was that until yesterday when I get home to find a letter from other driver's solicitors claiming that not only has he suffered neck and back injuries, loss of earnings and emotional distress due to my negligence in reversing into him, but so have FOUR other members of his family who were in the car at the time of the incident!!

This is a blatent untruth - he was alone in the car.

Have sent the correspondence straight to my insurance company unanswered, but really want to know if I can involve the police in this matter? It seems to me to be a clear case of trying to obtain money by deception, though this is only a layman's perspective I know. When I spoke with the WPC in January she was very thorough in what he hd stated to her and at no time mentioned any passengers or injuries - his initial concern was for the £7K damage to his car.

Assuming he did not mention to the police at time of reporting accident that there were 4 passengers, this would now be an obviously fraudulent claim. My frustrations are not just with the driver and his family, but the solicitors who have taken on this case knowing full well it is fraudulent, and the Doctors that they have got to state all 5 people are suffering injuries.

Any advice on how I should proceed with this?

[tiglet]

I believe it would certainly be worthwhile taking legal advice on this matter and certainly telephoning the police to get their view on this.

[trickyjoe7777]

Have just spoken with the WPC involved who has stated that in the statement he gave to her following the accident he said that he was the only person i the car. This statement has been recorded and held on the police file. She also stated when she advised him that the police would be taking no further action he became aggressive towards her. Given the conflict now between the statement given to police and his spurious claim for damages, what should I expect to happen? The WPC has stated that it is a civil matter and that the police would have no interest in pursuing - surely trying to obtain money in this way must be an offence?

[tiglet]

Attempting to obtain pecuniary advantage by deception is a criminal and not a civil matter under section 16 of the Theft Act 1968 and so the police do have to take the details and give you a crime reference number for it.

Call again, if you are refused again, ask to speak to the Inspector and explain what you have explained here. If (s)he doesn't help, ask to speak to the Chief Inspector.

[jbmb2000]

Get your insurance company to obtain a copy of the police report (which should include to third parties statement).

At the very worst this will get rid of the "passenger" claims straight away.

I'm not an expert on legal matters but I'm pretty certain the the solicitors will drop the claim for the driver aswell as soon as they get the report as it will show that the third party has lied to the police and therefore his testimony would be worthless if this went to court.

In addition I would assume that any medical expert who examined the driver would have been the same one who examined the "passengers" so if they indicated that the "passengers" were injuried then their report on the driver would also be questionable.

However as previously stated I think that based on the information in his statement to the police the solicitor would drop the case.

As for bringing charges against the driver for fraud I wouldn't have a clue to be honest but I would assume that fraud is a criminal matter and this is clearly a matter of fraud as far as I can see.