Sorry this is such a long post to start with - I thought I was OK dealing with this on my own until I got to letter three and started to feel it was going a bit pear shaped!

Last Friday I received a letter from my insurers (HSBC) which reads as follows:

We have been notified of an accident involving your vehicle on the above date by a third party, but cannot trace having received notification from you.

 

The third party is holding the driver of your vehicle responsible for causing the accident. They are alleging that a *** *** (name omitted) was driving your vehicle and that your vehicle reversed into the other party's parked vehicle.

 

There is no *** *** covered to drive your vehicle under your policy. If this person was driving your vehicle with your permission we assume that you ensured beforehand that they were insured to drive your vehicle under the terms of their own policy.

 

Please therefore let us have details of their insurers within 7 days including the name and policy number so that we may redirect the claim.

 

If in fact it was yourself or a named driver driving your vehicle at the time of the accident, please complete and return the attached accident report form as soon as possible and at the latest within 7 days so that we may deal with this matter on your behalf.

 

If your vehicle has not been driven by *** *** and has not been involved in any incident please telephone me on receipt of this letter

 

If you wish to discuss this matter, please telephone on the number shown below

My car was parked at home (Cheshire), with the keys in the house, while I slept at that time. Neither do I know anyone called *** ***. A quick google search reveals that a person by this name (quite unusual) works for Staffordshire County Council, so my guess is that the numberplate has been misreported.

Ayway, I called the number given to explain and followed the call with this letter:

"Further to our conversation today I am returning the form sent out to me entitled “Particulars of Motor Accident”. I have not filled out this form as the alleged accident involving my car did not occur. I was in charge of the vehicle for the whole of 31st December 2008 and do not know any individual by the name of *** ***.

 

My recollection of 31st December 2008 is as follows. From around 10.30pm 30th December I was asleep, with the car parked in the private driveway of my previous address: (address given). The car remained here until I left for work at approximately 8am, arriving at work at approximately 8.30. My route took me (route detailed) to my place of work. I left work at 7pm following the same route home. After my arrival home the car remained parked, again on the private driveway, until 2nd January 2009. Whilst I cannot recall if I made a short journey during the day to buy my lunch I was not involved in any accident of any kind.

 

I can also confirm that there has been no work done on my car since repairs following storm damage which occurred in March 2008."

WHilst checking your no claims discount proof we have been made aware of a claim you made in the last five years which was not disclosed to us at the time the polilcy was taken out.

 

In order for us to accurately rate your policy it is imperative we receive full details of this incident within 7 days. Failure to respond will leave us no option but to cancel this policy. Once we are aware of the details of the incident we can update your records, however this may result in an increase in your premium ro your policy being placed with a different underwriter.

 

We look forward to hearing from you

Following my chat with him I called back to the number on todays letter and was assured that my policy would not be cancelled now that I had given them the details, and although I took the operative's name and extension he refused to give me this in writing. I'd really appreciate any advice on what to do next. My first thought is to construct a reply to the sender of the letter threatening cancellation giving details of the phonecall made where they promised not to. What do you think?

Bump

Alas, it is usual for a new or renewed policy to have the premium increased as though there was a claim until the issue is settled (in which case the additional premiums will be returned). They cannot (I believe) increase your premium midway through a policy.

Mistaken identities are quite common and should be sorted out rather quickly. You will be best contacting your old insurer and ask them what they have done (or not) and get them to correct their records. You could of course ask your current insurer to do this, but I suspect they will want you to do the donkey work (seeing as their precious targets will probably be missed sorting this out, though this is not an excuse).

Thanks very much for your reply and sorry for my delay in getting back - been away for the weekend.

Hopefully I have gone some way to resolve this. I decided to bite the bullet and email the person I thought may have been the driver. They have confirmed that it is a mistake and that they were involved in a bump (not in my car!) as I suspected so hopefully I can get this sorted fairly quickly.

As I paid £450ish up front for the policy it may be that the insurer demands a significant quantity anyway before things are sorted. Is there anyway I can avoid this. I have other things to spend the money on right now, even if I will get it back later, and this whole thing has already been pretty costly to me in terms of time and stress!

Thanks again

It really is a case of getting your previous insurer to amend heir records. A letter with the details of the other driver should sort this out, and hopefully quickly. However if you need he insurance sooner, you may need to pay the additional premium and get a refund once it is sorted out.

But do contact the last insurer as it is they, with incorrect records, who are causing this problem and it is they who need to sort it.