I have a huge problem. I am a young driver and i have recently been burdened with troubles i do not know how to resolve. A third-party has falsely accused me of being involved in a car incident which took place on a bank holiday Monday at 10:00PM in the fall of May.

This is what happened in chronological order;

I woke up one day to find letters from the police at my doorstep. At the moment i thought it would have been a speeding fine or a regulatory driving offense of some sort, and even that would have shocked me. However, i opened the letter to find i was 'involved' in an incident which took place on Ripple road, Barking at 10:00 PM on a bank holiday Monday. Shocked and devastated by the letter, i did not attend college that day in order to resolve the situation. Firstly i rang the police and explained to them i had falsely been accused and what i could do to resolve the problem. They simply told me to write a letter including any evidence i had to support my statement. I did this accordingly and never heard from the police again. I then contacted my insurance company and told them of the situation and then they began to dispute the claim.

I remember the bank holiday very well actually, it was a few days before Tottenham Hotspurs final game of the season against Manchester City which took place on the Wednesday. On the date of the incident i have 8 witnesses who can confirm I was at the home the entire day. Likewise, i have witnesses who can confirm the car did not leave the drive the entire week, let alone the day. I have a cheap 2003 Nissan Micra I purchased for around £1000. When i had contacted my insurance company, they did not confirm that the third-party had named a vehicle. Secondly, i supposedly hit into the back of his car with the front right wing of mine. The front right wing of my car happens to be the only part of the car in immaculate condition, there is not even a scratch.

I also explained i had no business in the area of the incident which is about a 30-40 minutes drive away from my home. I mean, what would I be doing in such an area at 10:00PM at night. I have no friends, no family and absolutely no logical reason to be in such an area let alone at 10:00PM. I also had a Law lesson at college the next morning at 9:00PM which i attended.

The only explanation Ii had in mind was that the third-party may have been fooled by someone using a false number plate identical to mine.

I am currently preparing myself for University which I will be starting in the fall of September, and in order to help subsidise my studies I have decided to sell my car, thus cancel my insurance policy. However, I was told by my insurance company that i am not allowed to cancel my insurance policy due to an outstanding the claim. I have found a buyer for the car and he wants to purchase the car as soon as possible. However, due to the outstanding claim I am unable to do anything.

Therefore I am in desperate need of some advice. I am going through so much stress and financial problems because of someone falsely accusing me of an incident which did not occur. I had to sacrifice revision time for my A-Level exams because of this problem, and 3 months later I am burdened by the same problem. Not only can i not cancel my policy, I am still paying for insurance I should have cancelled 2 months ago because I have been falsely accused. Me and my mother have also rang the insurance company at-least 4 times a day to deal with this, but have had no help.

I am in dire straits and in desperate need of help. What can I do to resolve the situation? How can i cancel my policy in time to sell my car? and is there any legal action i can take on the third-party for putting me through such personal and financial stress.

Yours sincerely, Dan.

Hi Dan .......... Not sure why the insurance company will not cancel the insurance. I would have thought that they could calculate what your premium was up to the point you want to cancel it.

There is nothing stopping you selling the car. Just ensure you get the details of the person you sell it to, a copy of their driving licence and a copy of a utility bill will evidence the fact that you ensured you did everything to get their real details.

Did you write to the Police? Have they given an indication as to any prosecution? Have you the details of the person making the allegations? If not you should ask for them.

Hi

The easiest/quickest way to resolve this, is to get in touch with the 3rd party.

If you don't know their contact details, you can send a letter via the Insurers.

If you send a letter with the explanation you have given in your post, together with photos of your car, the 3rd party might see straightaway, that it was not your car, they had the accident with. They should then contact their Insurers hopefully, if you tell them to, to make them aware of this.

BUT you have to be very carefull. If you do send the picture, make sure they are marked clearly in several places, that these were sent with your covering letter of x date. Just thinking that if the 3rd party was dodgy they might try to use the pictures in some way to support their claim.

Also you can't rule out this being a [problem] type claim. If the claim is dodgy, the 3rd party might just go quiet, leaving you in this situation, with a pending claim.

At 10pm on the 8th May, it would have been dark by then. Perhaps the 3rd party has written down the registration wrongly or mis-identified the reg.

As it stands, if you can't get rid of the claim on your record, you will have to pay the premium up to the renewal. Once and if the matter is sorted out, you might be lucky to get some premium back.

Try the contact with the 3rd party first and then if that does not work, take legal advice. Though I am not sure what you could do legally to force the issue.

Hi guys, thanks for the helpful replies. I am thinking of taking the matter into my own hands by paying the third-party a visit and explaining the situation to him. I will also get in touch with police again and try get hold of the statement issued by the third-party. However, do you think it would be wise to visit him directly? (my insurer gave me his address)

Not sure you should go direct. However if you do then take a witness. You could also record the encounter as if the 3rd party has never seen you then if comes as a surprise then the question of whether he has seen you ever before could be very interesting.

Take photos of the car for your own records, sell the car and then cancel the insurance. Making sure that you have the new purchaser to complete the appropriate 'strip' on the V5c registration document. Then cancel the car insurance policy. The Broker/Insurer MUST cancel the policy then since you no longer have an 'insurable interest' in that vehicle - to offer insurance on the subject vehicle thereafter would be an unlawful contract!

. However, do you think it would be wise to visit him directly? (my insurer gave me his address)

Suggest that write to him with pictures of the car. If you provide your contact details, then they will contact you if they want to. If you turn up on the doorstep, you don't know what kind of reaction you might get. You could be met with a violent response.

Ok guys, so heres the current situation;

- My insurance company has sent me a letter confirming my insurance will be cancelled on the 6th of September.

- They have also told me that I will most likely have to pay the remaining premium of around 900£.

- However, contrary to this, I will write them a letter concealing photos of my car and explaining to them that the third party is committing fraud and that I am not taking any liability for any extra suspense other than the cancellation fee of my policy. I will also explain to them that I will happily go to a court of Law and testify my innocence with substantial evidence and claim damages from that third party cockroach.

- I honestly was not involved in any incident, therefore there is absolutely no way I can be proven guilty...If i was not involved, how will the third party gather evidence? good luck to him.

What do you think guys? As a Law student I rightfully know i am entitled to claim compensatory damages (i.e; I would have cancelled my policy 2 months ago had it not been for this inconvenience, therefore the damages would be the payment for 2 months). However, the process of going through the courts is expensive and time consuming, which is my only doubt.

Sounds like a good plan of action. You could also go on the attack and request photographic evidence of the damage on the other car. Assuming that this is substantial then comparing the two cars and the laws of physics the fraud will be obvious.

Just noticed this. Your insurer sold you an Annual Policy. If you are attempting to cancel this and get a refund, the cost of cover rockets due to the shortened period of cover, this is BEFORE there is any hint of a potential claim. Once a claim is noted, the chances of getting a refund go out the window unless the claim is successfully repelled.

People make the mistake of thinking that if they ay their cover monthly, and cancel, their commitment ceases. Unfortunately is doesn't, as the insurer will insist the full annual amount is paid before a rebate is calculated, and this can be just a few pounrs knocked off. I'd also advise against confronting the TP. There can be accusations of collusion if you do this, he claims and you share the dividend. I'd leave them to sort it out.