False claim made against me - now car insurance premium increased

[Big Shoooz]

Some months ago, I was accussed of hitting another vehicle when I quite clearly didn't.

 

I informed my insurance company of the situation and warned them that I felt it was a [problem].

 

The third party came back with a witness statement which I disputed. I didn't hear anything more on the subject until my husband had to make an amendment to his car insurance and was told that the additional driver (me) was showing on the motor insurance database as being involved in an accident so the premium would be going up. I was shocked and phoned my insurance company to find out why this accident was showing on the database when as far as I was concerned the case was closed.

 

They told me the TP had been in touch with another witness coming forward and so my insurer had to keep the case open however, they hadn't heard from the TP for a while so they said they would contact them to see if they still wanted to go ahead with the claim. My insurer told me if they did not hear from the TP within the next 6 months, they would close the case and the record would be taken off the motor insurance database. They said either way, whether or not they heard from the TP, they would let me know.

 

Well, more than 6 months has passed and so I assumed the claim had been dropped until.....today I receive a renewal reminder showing that I had a fault accident last year and my premium is now 3 times what it was last year!!

 

I have yet to speak with my insurance company but it seems that they have paid up to the TP and not informed me. Are they allowed to do this? Do I not have a right to fight my case? I informed the police about the incident and told them I felt it was a [problem].

[Big Shoooz]

I posted this thread in the Transport forum but now I'm thinking maybe it should belong here.

 

Some months ago, I was accussed of hitting another vehicle when I quite clearly didn't.

 

I informed my insurance company of the situation and warned them that I felt it was a [problem].

 

The third party came back with a witness statement which I disputed. I didn't hear anything more on the subject until my husband had to make an

amendment

to his car insurance and was told that the additional driver (me) was showing on the

motor insurance

database as being involved in an accident so the premium would be going up. I was shocked and phoned my insurance company to find out why this accident was showing on the database when as far as I was concerned the case was closed.

 

They told me the TP had been in touch with another witness coming forward and so my insurer had to keep the case open however, they hadn't heard from the TP for a while so they said they would contact them to see if they still wanted to go ahead with the claim. My insurer told me if they did not hear from the TP within the next 6 months, they would close the case and the record would be taken off the motor insurance database. They said either way, whether or not they heard from the TP, they would let me know.

 

Well, more than 6 months has passed and so I assumed the claim had been dropped until.....today I receive a renewal reminder showing that I had a fault accident last year and my premium is now 3 times what it was last year!!

 

I have yet to speak with my insurance company but it seems that they have paid up to the TP and not informed me. Are they allowed to do this? Do I not have a right to fight my case? I informed the police about the incident and told them I felt it was a [problem]. Surely, the fact that I think the TP driver is up to some kind of fraud and the police have been informed should mean that my insurance company should be investigating this further rather than giving up and paying the TP without my consent?

 

Could I send a Subject Access Request to my insurance company to ask for all the information they hold about this accident?

 

 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Under the terms of the policy, you delegate decisions over liability to your Insurers. This effectively gives them the final say over the matter and you can argue as much as you want, but it is unlikely to change anything.

 

You can of course make a subject access request to your Insurers, asking for all information held regarding the claim to be provided. They can blank out names and addressess of the third party, their witnesses , plus any other third party data that cannot be released with their authority.

 

Once you have the SAR info, what would you do with it ? Are you seriously thinking of taking legal action directly against the third party ? That is what you would have to do, if you wanted to reverse the position. You can of course use the SAR info to make a complaint with your Insurers and see where it goes, however, you might find that frustrating.

[Big Shoooz]

Hi Uncle B,

Thanks for your advice.

 

No there is no point in taking the TP to court over this as we all know the British justice system doesn't work for the victims so I'm not going to waste any time and money (after all, I now need all the money I can get to pay the increased premium!).

 

I do think it's disgraceful that insurers can make the decision themselves without any thought for the policy holder/victim.

 

I would like to make the SAR so that I can complain to the insurer and then to their governing body who I believe is the FSA. I'm sure I won't get anywhere with it in the way of compensation but at least I will get things off my chest and be contented that the insurer has a black mark against their name (people don't complain enough in this country anymore, that's why these companies continnue to rip us off....we should all stand up to them).

 

I'd also like to see when this incident was recorded on the Motor Insurance Database and hopefully the SAR will tell me that.

[hightail]

I do think it's disgraceful that insurers can make the decision themselves without any thought for the policy holder/victim.

It's doubly disgraceful that they can do so when they've been informed upfront it's a suspected insurance fraud. .

[raydetinu]

You need to contact insurance co. to get all the details first

did you make a statement regarding the incident at the time you reported to your insurers. and you denied resonsibility.

If not then they should have contacted you before settling, they have a duty to look after your interests. How much was the claim for.

However they can and do settle on your behalf if they have substantial evidence that it was your fault ( although sometimes fraudulent ).

They settle quickly to limit time and costs on any protracted litigation, again if evidence so dictates.

[Mwynci]

Without having called your insurer for the postition, I don't see what basis you have a complaint about?

[Big Shoooz]

My car insurance is due for renewal soon and a few months ago another driver tried to make an accident claim against me. This is not yet resolved as I am disputing their claim, however this is not going to be settled either way until after my insurance renewal.

 

Am I supposed to declare this as an accident when I get insurance quotes or not? It's in dispute so it may not definately show against my record.

[Ganymede]

You need to declare ALL claims/accidents regardless of fault.

[raydetinu]

Did you not inform your insurance co. at the time?, should of even it was just a notification and no action on their behalf was needed. Then they would either take that into account or not at renewal.

These things can get out of hand and may end up in court if they are claiming through their insurance co.

So if another insurance co is aware of it and you dont declare it, yours may find out as they share info. which may invalidate your insurance.

[Big Shoooz]

Yes, I informed my insurance company but this claim has never been resolved.

As far as I am concerned the third party is making a fraudulent claim as I did not hit his vehicle, even though he's claiming I've made £1200 worth of damage! It's not fair that this claim is hanging over me and making my renewal premium higher when my insurance company hasn't even paid up to the 3rd party or admitted liability on my behalf.

[raydetinu]

unfortunately these things take time to resolve. I am sure your insurance co are not going to entertain a fraudulent or ridiculous claim, but until resolved so there is no libility it will remain as a potential claim. Just keep chasing them for a decision.

[Big Shoooz]

Hi, I am disputing a claim made against me for a car accident whereby the third party alleges I hit and damaged their vehicle. I didn't hit it and I am sticking to my guns and disputing it because as far as I am concerned the third party is making a fraudulent claim.

Now should this go to court and I lose, would I be responsible for paying court costs or should my insurer be covering them?

[MaxxPower]

If your policy includes legal cover then I would think the insurance company should be responsible. Double check your policy though, Legal cover is sometimes an optional extra that you might not have paid for.

[Big Shoooz]

If your policy includes legal cover then I would think the insurance company should be responsible. Double check your policy though, Legal cover is sometimes an optional extra that you might not have paid for.

 

Hi maxi, yes I paid for legal cover but my insurer is telling me that if I lost they would pay the third party repair costs but I would have to pay the court costs.....I thought legal cover was there to cover court costs?

[Mwynci]

This is not a "legal insurance" issue, that's a different policy altogether.

All motor insurance has an element of legal cover for third party cover, your insurers are possibly doubtful of the outcome - they have to work on hard facts and if it's a case of your word against the others with no idependent witness or expert evidence, there is a 50/50 they (you) won't win, so possibly they won't want to take this to court if the amount is a relatively small amount, hence them giving you a pretty useless answer.

They are there to cover you for this, but ultimately they have the option if they choose to cover you by going to court or pay out.

If the insurer gets you to pay if you loose is a strange one, whilst their saying this to potentially put you off, should you loose, for them to then accept the risk and chase you back would be pretty bad practice.

If your confident go for it, that's my advice.