Fraudulent car insurance claim against me. Advice please.

[jammer]

I've been contacted by my insurer (Direct Line) to say that there has been a claim made against me. It's been made by a company just round the corner that frequently park their vehicles on the opposite side of the (public) road at the exit of where the short road which leads to the driveway at the back of my current accomodation (I'm a student). My car does have some pre-existing damage (basically a couple of scratches here and there and a chunk of paint off of the front bumper) that I haven't bothered to repair (it's a cheap fiesta I'm going to run into the ground until I have some money after finishing uni).

The claim had been made that I hit their vehicle at 1030am on a week day. The only time I'd use my car at this time is if I'm on an infreqeunt visit to one of my works customers. There were no visits on this day, so it couldn't have possibly been me as I would've been in the office (7 minutes walk away).

My current suspicion is that the person claiming against me (obtained some damage to their vehicle,) looked around and saw my not awesome looking car on my driveway and took down the registration.

Obviously I don't want to pay anything and don't want to lose my no claims bonus. I only have 3rd party fire & theft cover, but I do have legal protection.

The current status is that Direct Line are going back to the claiming company with my response that this incident didn't happen. What advice would you give me?

[vusys1]

ask to confirm, if there was an accident why didnt the other driver stop?, can he descibe who was driving you car? were there any witnesses? what were the circumstances?

does anyone else have access to your vehicle?

As its at the early stage you will have to see what allegations come in from the TP.

[gni03349]

... as well as denying it, of course!!

[jammer]

Hi,

Thanks for responding. Well I would assume that the other driver will be claiming that I didn't stop (which I didn't, given that I wasn't driving at the time, so couldn't stop ).

Descriptions is definitely an angle I'll be working. The point where the incident is claimed to have happened is basically at a junction (the side road attached to my driveway) which leads straight to another junction (with a busy main road), so there's no way I could have "sped off".

I am certainly denying it (because it didn't happen).

No one else has access to my vehicle (well, I probably left the keys in my room, so in theory my landlord could have "borrowed" the vehicle while I was out, being the only other person with a key to my room).

Having never made or received a claim before, I'm not sure what the entire process is. There seems to be plenty of advice from insurers on making a claim but none on defending yourself against one.

[JonCris]

As you have already done maintain your position that the 'incident' didn't happen & suggest to your insurer that once the evidence is gathered they report this person for attempted fraud

Also if they are claiming hit & run why didn't they report it to the police

The much easier access to a vehicle owners details is a I suspect resulting in an increase in such fraudulent claims

[LemonTwist]

Do you have an alibi? As you said you are a student, were you in a lecture/seminar at the time the accident was alleged to have happened? If so, was a register taken or would one of your lecturers be willing to back you up?

[jammer]

Originally Posted by LemonTwist

Do you have an alibi? As you said you are a student, were you in a lecture/seminar at the time the accident was alleged to have happened? If so, was a register taken or would one of your lecturers be willing to back you up?

I'm on a placement year, so I was at work, and have work colleagues who will almost certainly confirm that for me (just have to make sure I'm not too mean to them between now and then =P ).

I saw the vehicle on my way to work this morning (as I said before, it belongs to a company just round the corner who regularly park their vehicles in my road), and while I didn't look closely, it's got no obvious damage.

While I don't know the exact circumstance they're going to be claiming (I assume that my insurance company will get that information when they go back to the other partys insurance company), I did go out and check the parking restrictions where they normally park. According to the signs it's "no waiting 8am - 6pm Mon - Fri" - assuming the incident did take place (which it didn't), while that obviously wouldn't completely remove all blame from me, I would hope it does shift the balance a little in my favour.

At the moment I guess it's purely a waiting game until my insurance company get back to me.