Accident fraud claim
Accident fraud claim
Hi All, I've just come back from my hols only to find a letter in my post from my insurance company stating my car Z1 had been involved in an accident with a motor bike. Could i furnish them with details as the motor bike is claiming off me!!! Problem is I was in Italy and I know my car was safely tucked away. What should I do? I don't think I have to prove my innocence. Is it not for the other person to prove my guilt. I don't want to be awkward about it but maybe someone else is using my reg and how did they get my personal details etc? Any suggestions re next move? Thanks Nik
Tell the insurance company and the police as soon as possible. This is important as if someone has cloned your plates, you don't want any more problems.
Assuming that it wasn't just a genuine mistake over the reg, it shouldn't be too difficult to defend should you have to - it is unlikely to have been a Z1 with your plates on it - there aren't that many about! The motorcycle rider ought to be able to tell that it wasn't a Z1 - thought it was probably a BMW of some sort.
A similar thing happened to a friend recently - he got a speeding ticket from somewhere in London. He was on holiday at the time. It was pretty easy to defend as the photo showed a Mazda RX8 not an MX5.
Assuming that it wasn't just a genuine mistake over the reg, it shouldn't be too difficult to defend should you have to - it is unlikely to have been a Z1 with your plates on it - there aren't that many about! The motorcycle rider ought to be able to tell that it wasn't a Z1 - thought it was probably a BMW of some sort.
A similar thing happened to a friend recently - he got a speeding ticket from somewhere in London. He was on holiday at the time. It was pretty easy to defend as the photo showed a Mazda RX8 not an MX5.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
I remember this one well ! I Got a phone call from the police one Saturday morning asking me to bring my vehicle down to the police station asap, wouldn't really tell me what it was about.
When I got there the copper inspected it in some detail for any accident damage (or recently repaired damage). He was looking for new nuts and bolts, new paint etc. Of course I had no clue what was going on until he told me a car identical to mine with my reg had been involved in a hit and run in Rotheram
After the inspection he was completely satisfied that it was not my vehicle, but another Rover 220 coupe (what I had at the time) with my plates on. He said it was quite common. Crims go around multi story car parks etc looking for cars identical or very similar to one they have just nicked. Then they just get the plates made up and stick them on. When plod do a PNC check on a suspicious vehicle, the plate matches up to the cars description & colour etc. it's more difficuly nowadays since the law was tightened on number plate manufacture but still not impossible (a quick web search reveals plenty of companies still doing them for shows etc!)
Anyway, he gave me an incident number and sent me on my way. A few weeks later I got several letters from an insurance company asking for my details relating to the 'accident'. I just replied saying it was not my vehicle and gave them the police incident number. They persisted for about another month or so and then just gave up.
So, my advice would be to report it to the police and get an incident number off them. You can then quote this to any insurance companies trying their luck.
When I got there the copper inspected it in some detail for any accident damage (or recently repaired damage). He was looking for new nuts and bolts, new paint etc. Of course I had no clue what was going on until he told me a car identical to mine with my reg had been involved in a hit and run in Rotheram
After the inspection he was completely satisfied that it was not my vehicle, but another Rover 220 coupe (what I had at the time) with my plates on. He said it was quite common. Crims go around multi story car parks etc looking for cars identical or very similar to one they have just nicked. Then they just get the plates made up and stick them on. When plod do a PNC check on a suspicious vehicle, the plate matches up to the cars description & colour etc. it's more difficuly nowadays since the law was tightened on number plate manufacture but still not impossible (a quick web search reveals plenty of companies still doing them for shows etc!)Anyway, he gave me an incident number and sent me on my way. A few weeks later I got several letters from an insurance company asking for my details relating to the 'accident'. I just replied saying it was not my vehicle and gave them the police incident number. They persisted for about another month or so and then just gave up.
So, my advice would be to report it to the police and get an incident number off them. You can then quote this to any insurance companies trying their luck.
Sapphire Black 02 S54 M Roadster
