wrong/fraudulant insurance claim against me.. how's this gonna turn out then?!!

Send them the evidence and make it go away.

@Kramer +1

Provide them with the information they have requested.
Its not required for the person making the claim to provide photos although it is recommended.
They have one persons word currently against anothers.
Give them the info and problem solved.

And if you made an insurance claim that your insurance co didn't make any attempts to chase the offending 3rd party even if you had slightly sketching info on?

Send a photo of yourself as a pole dancer  in front of a clock holding a copy of the daily mail proving  your whereabouts at  the date and time  of the incident.

not to them. To me.

Provide them with the information they have requested.
Its not required for the person making the claim to provide photos although it is recommended.
They have one persons word currently against anothers.
Give them the info and problem solved

All of this.

I get that you are angry about the attempted fraudulent claim but your insurers need evidence from you - probably in writing - to defend you. Don't kick off at them for doing what you pay your premiums for.

the ANGRY OLD MAN part of me feels I should tell them to actually do what they are paid for, debunk this insurance fraud case

Yes but surely they need evidence to prove that it's fraudulent and that can only come from you - HD don't know where you are every minute of the day!

but the ANGRY OLD MAN part of me feels I should tell them to actually do what they are paid for, debunk this insurance fraud case, and send me some biscuits in the post as an apology…

They are doing what they're paid for, they've had a third party contact them about an incident with one of their customers, they've contacted that customer (you). Send them what they need to make the problem go away, or don't and make your life harder.

I'd send them an email explaining your situation, why you're really pissed off with them, with the info needed to make it go away attached and then **** them off as my insurance company.

Edit: I know people are going to say "but they are only what they are supposed to do", but from the OP they person on the phone sounds like a useless nob and I would expect my insurance co to be on my side, be nice with me and get me on side so I provide them with whatever they need. Hastings direct sound like they are accisung the the OP and not trying to help their customer at all.

Send them the evidence and make it go away.

+whatever we are upto now.

'The ANGRY OLD MAN' sounds like the kind of person who will one day be Dead right.

Send them what they want, it goes away, hassle over.

Vote with your feet and use another insurer next time.

Cheers all!

I've sent them a headed letter from my practice stating the above, with a copy of my google timeline. I know it's the right thing to do, but I'm also annoyed at the fact an absolute minimum of information has triggered this.

And if you made an insurance claim that your insurance co didn’t make any attempts to chase the offending 3rd party even if you had slightly sketching info on?

But this is the thing - the only info they have given is a number plate (that may be wrong, or a clone of mine) and a location that doesn't exist! If I was involved in a crash (and i assume the other driver drove away) i'd provide an exact location (what 3 words or the like) and more details of the car/driver/plate..

Anyway, I guess I'm just annoyed at having to put pointless effort in when I shouldn't have to..but hey ho!

Yes but surely they need evidence to prove that it’s fraudulent and that can only come from you – HD don’t know where you are every minute of the day!

I dunno..it feels to me that my saying that I wasn't involved should mean the accusor should provide more evidence..?

DrP

Did you ring them from the number in the text, or from a number taken from their website?
Are you sure it's Hastings Direct contacting you?

I'm with the OP  - don't engage. Insurance companies are definitely NOT in it for your protection. I had this happen to me (your car was seen crashing into several cars late at night in a town 200 miles away etc etc). I did all the right things and played ball - insurance company sent an inspector out to view my car and said I could easily have caused the damage based on his inspection!!!!   My car was a 10 year old Mondeo estate and had a few tiny paint chips and scratches on the bumpers consistent with a 10 year old vehicle....the perpetrator had caused about 30k of damage to several parked cars yet this 'inspector' had the gall to say it could have been my vehicle.

It was only a long chat and email to the police that got me sorted - I just think I was lucky with a particular cop who had a brain and could tell I was telling the truth or perhaps there was ANPR evidence- who knows, I certainly never found out, just a email saying it had all gone away from the cop - NOTHING from the insurance company. Tossers. Can't believe they were just going to roll over. I could have been heavily prosecuted.

Just send in the evidence and be done with it.

Mistakes can be made.

I can imagine that many claims come in without photos or evidence - just a phone call and claim being made. This then needs establishing as an actual incident (why they called you) or a false/mistaken incident, then the decision over liability, then settling of the claim.

Been here before - someone had read a number plate wrong.

I’d send them an email explaining your situation, why you’re really pissed off with them, with the info needed to make it go away attached and then **** them off as my insurance company.

Edit: I know people are going to say “but they are only what they are supposed to do”, but from the OP they person on the phone sounds like a useless nob and I would expect my insurance co to be on my side, be nice with me and get me on side so I provide them with whatever they need. Hastings direct sound like they are accisung the the OP and not trying to help their customer at all.

I'm really not sure what there is to be pissed off about, a third party has made a claim, Hastings need to investigate that claim, first port of call is to contact the customer. Sides? it's not primary school kids in the playground.

Had this once, they called while I was driving.

I stopped and then took a picture of my car while I spoke to the chap and emailed it to him.

I also mentioned that they may have got the number plate digits wrong as the mine was one of 5 BMW's in a row with the reg (mine was a 3 at the end, and 2, 4, 5 and 6 were also blue 5 Series's).

Got a call a few hours later to say they'd told the claimant and they'd get in touch if anything else occurred - I asked for a email confirmation, which I got.

Just take some pics - job done.

I dunno..it feels to me that my saying that I wasn’t involved should mean the accusor should provide more evidence..?

DrP

Currently it's a case of he said she said, proof makes that go away.

I’m really not sure what there is to be pissed off about

I guess my expectations are probably too high.. I'd expect my insurance company to respond to an accusation with "ok - provide us the adequate evidence and information, and we'll look into it for you".

<br />Otherwise, what's to stop every Tom Dick and Harry just writing down numberplates of cars they see on teh street, and calling their company saying "i was hit by numberplate XY23CAR on the M27" and this being enough to trigger the ball rolling!

Anyway, will see what happens

DrP

I guess my expectations are probably too high

I might be wrong, but aren't Hastings very much a budget-end insurance co?

a third party has made a claim, Hastings need to investigate that claim, first port of call is to contact the customer.

A third party has made a claim using incorrect or false information. I'd expect the insurance company to at least put the address given into google maps or something and when they saw that it doesn't exist maybe go back to the claimant for a proper address, not hound their own customer with wrong info.

Personally I'd expect a conversation to go something like this:

IC: hello Mr blah, someone has made a claim against you.

Mr blah: Oh, ok when and where did this happen?

IC: address one at so and so time.

Mr blah: I was at work that day and haven't used that car for weeks, actually that address doesn't even exist??

IC: Oh maybe they've given us soem wrong info, we'll go back to them and try an firm up thier details. If you could just make sure you have this ### information in the mean time that'd be great....

Each to their own though. 

I would expect my insurance co to be on my side, be nice with me and get me on side so I provide them with whatever they need

As a former claims manager, we go with whatever evidence we have from either side. Sometimes people don't like to accept they were wrong (bit like on here).

Sometimes the policyholder doesn’t mention that the reason he got Autoglass to replace his windscreen was because it was a pedestrian who went through it, whilst walking on the pavement....

I might be wrong, but aren’t Hastings very much a budget-end insurance co?

Doesn't guarantee anything eg one of the most expensive insurance companies, Hiscox, just decided it just wouldn't pay out for Covid claims because it didn't want to....

Didn't stand up to much in court mind...

what’s to stop every Tom Dick and Harry just writing down numberplates of cars they see on teh street

Nothing, the scam's been going on for years. That's why the Insurance company get you to do the legwork to prove where you were (for free); so they don't have to. 

winston
Full Member
I’m with the OP – don’t engage

Not the best course of action, there's an open claim hanging over the OP's policy until this goes away. That'll do wonders come renewal time

Personally I’d expect a conversation to go something like this:
IC: hello Mr blah, someone has made a claim against you.
Mr blah: Oh, ok when and where did this happen?
IC: address one at so and so time.
Mr blah: I was at work that day and haven’t used that car for weeks, actually that address doesn’t even exist??
IC: Oh maybe they’ve given us soem wrong info, we’ll go back to them and try an firm up thier details. If you could just make sure you have this ### information in the mean time that’d be great….

This is literally the least I'd expect!
When I was speaking to my ins co. on teh phone, I openly said to them "I'm jsut really intreagued how little information you've got". There's no post code. No time of incident. No description of damage. No description of a car. In fact, I suggested to them that, whatever actually happened and whoever it happened to, "changing lanes" (the only info in the accusation) isn't even a crime!

Sigh!

DrP

That’s why the Insurance company get you to do the legwork to prove where you were (for free); so they don’t have to. 

This.

Yes - it was a poor choice of words. I didn't really mean don't engage. I meant that even if you do engage with all their requests still don't expect them to back you up or in any way make your life easier.

If this happens to me again, I will certainly be less interested in complying with their every whim.

On a scale of 1-10 not engaging with them is a remarkably stupid thing to do.
If you're not happy about what they've done or the way they've done it, complain to them.

A third party has made a claim using incorrect or false information. I’d expect the insurance company to at least put the address given into google maps or something and when they saw that it doesn’t exist maybe go back to the claimant for a proper address, not hound their own customer with wrong info.

Personally I’d expect a conversation to go something like this:

IC: hello Mr blah, someone has made a claim against you.

Mr blah: Oh, ok when and where did this happen?

IC: address one at so and so time.

Mr blah: I was at work that day and haven’t used that car for weeks, actually that address doesn’t even exist??

IC: Oh maybe they’ve given us soem wrong info, we’ll go back to them and try an firm up thier details. If you could just make sure you have this ### information in the mean time that’d be great….

Each to their own though.

Hastings have received a claim from a third party, a third party who may not be very bright, might be in a hospital bed off their tits on pain killers, a third party whose first language may not be English or a third party whose a complete bullshitter. What's the easiest (and sanest) option, pick up the phone and contact their customer, oh look! We've even got their phone number on file, well I never.

You've paid as little as you possibly can for a service, don't be surprised when that service provider doesn't roll out the red carpet for you. Provide them with the information they need and they'll make the problem go away.

"Provide them with the information they need and they’ll make the problem go away"

Except that obviously in my case I did that...and they made it worse.

stumpy01

Did you ring them from the number in the text, or from a number taken from their website?
Are you sure it’s Hastings Direct contacting you?

Some bright spark asked this question, earlier.
Are you sure it's Hasting's you are talking to?
It sounds like one of those calls I get every now & again along the lines of:

"Hi. We are calling about your recent accident".......
......"OK. What accident is that?........"
...."You had a recent accident, didn't you.....?"
......" You tell me, if you're calling about it, you must know the details....?"
".......bbbbeeeeeeeeeeeeee.........."
Oh, they've hung up.

I had a wrongful claim against me because someone cloned my plates for the same car. Had no connection to the location and I had no 'alibi'. Ended up with them sending an engineer to confirm that my car hadnt been in a crash. The person that was hit understandably wanted to claim. It was just the insurance companies not willing to take risk and settle sooner. Based on that experience i doubt they'll just go away

“Provide them with the information they need and they’ll make the problem go away”

Except that obviously in my case I did that…and they made it worse.

On the odd occasion it goes wrong, and that's a bit shit when it's you it goes wrong for. I'd hazard a guess they get it right more times than not though.

Tell them its nonsense and youre looking for some compensation for the upset it has caused you.

It was just the insurance companies not willing to take risk and settle sooner.

The law requires the insurer to do certain things at certain times according to a thing known as the MoJ portal. I'm not familiar with it, but I know if the insurer just ignores a claim, it'll pretty much go against them by default and costs awarded against them.
They can't "risk it" because of this system. So they try to settle quickly (plus it'll usually be cheaper for them to handle the claim faster, which means cheaper premiums! Winner!)

I’d expect the insurance company to be putting in any legwork. If I’d not been involved in a crash on a make believe road then I’d be putting in precisely no ****ing effort to prove otherwise. I don’t work for the insurance firm.

@stumpy01 - it genuinely was Hastings with details of my file etc.

It was only when I said "i'm hard to miss..i'm driving a bright red Nissan LeaF2 the chap went "eh.. we've got you down as driving a grey octavia"!

DrP

I had similar years back where someone said I had run into them up in London.  I didn’t even notice until I had my renewal offer emailed to me and insurance had doubled . Looking at paperwork , there was the claim in black and white and they had paid out .  It 100% wasn’t me , but the insurance company made no real effort to chase it up .

eventually got it sorted in the end after countless phone calls . A black Fiesta with a number plate a digit out had done it. Not the big brown T5 Kombi that I was driving !!

I'm not sure how this stuff works. How did the insurance company of the claimant get your insurers details? Did they report it as a hit and run to the Police?

I miss the 'we are calling you about you recent accident calls'.

I used to go into elaborate details on how I driving a bus full of nuns to an orphanage to hand out presents when we were hit, everyone had whiplash and the presents (all playstations) were totalled. I could usually keep them going for at least 10mins.

Anyhow, I'd also me miffed at hastings.
I'd send them picture of my car photoshopped at the top of a mountain.....or a really really close up of part of the left wing (or where ever the 'damage' is expected).

How did the insurance company of the claimant get your insurers details?

MID - Motor Insurers Database

I’m not sure how this stuff works. How did the insurance company of the claimant get your insurers details? Did they report it as a hit and run to the Police?

This is what's pi$$ing me off!

If 'I' (i.e my imposter) had stopped at the accident scene, then details should have been exchanged. Clearly, though they may have cloned a plate, they wouldn't know my personal details OR be as devilishly good looking. But if it was a hit and run, then surely there would be a police reference.

Hastings Direct don't seem to be aware of either.

I appreciate they are (possibly) a budget insurance firm... but... I very much doubt this is the first claim they've ever had to deal with, but they are certainly making it feel like that.

The gormless "oh yeah..that's not even a real location is it" when I said to the person on the phone "why haven't you even asked for more information" was eye-rollingly dissapointing!

DrP

MID – Motor Insurers Database

You can find another vehicles insurer yourself too, came in quite handy when someone punted me off and refused to give me their insurance details.

https://www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx

Not read this all but so might have already been said but....did you ring the number on the email/text or from the documents you already have? Do you know you are actually talking to your insurance company?

It was only when I said “i’m hard to miss..i’m driving a bright red Nissan LeaF2 the chap went “eh.. we’ve got you down as driving a grey octavia”!

Is insurance for leaf via Hastings or are not insured to drive leaf 🤔 

I appreciate they are (possibly) a budget insurance firm…

” was eye-rollingly dissapointing!

What's that expression about getting what you pay for...reap what you sow, made your bed... Cake something eating it something 🤣

How long has guilty until proven innocent been a thing?

"Wasn't me, piss off, feel free to try and prove otherwise, you can come and inspect my vehicle(s) if you like, any further questions?"

"How did the insurance company of the claimant get your insurers details? Did they report it as a hit and run to the Police?"

Presumably the insurers have access to the insurance database.

Google says yes.

https://www.mib.org.uk/managing-insurance-data/the-motor-insurance-database-mid/insurer-access/

I miss the ‘we are calling you about you recent accident calls’.

I used to go into elaborate details on how I driving a bus full of nuns to an orphanage to hand out presents when we were hit, everyone had whiplash and the presents (all playstations) were totalled. I could usually keep them going for at least 10mins.

I miss those too, last one I had (a while ago now) I started describing something out of a Michael Bay film and didn't get that far before I got a 'oooh you think you're so funny don't you' and they hung up. These days I only get scam calls from someone pretending to be from O2.

Is insurance for leaf via Hastings or are not insured to drive leaf 

Or...crazy thought.... insurance for the LEAF is via another company!!!

Also..budget shouldn't mean incompetent! I'm not after bells and whistles, and a fancy replacement car if needed.. i'd think ensuring the customer isn't being shafted would be the bare minimum!

DrP

The OP is correct, help the insurer and it should go away, the more you can offer the quicker that'll happen.

If the process is unnecessarily slow then you won't be able to get a competitive quote elsewhere while the investigation is ongoing.

Don't co-operate and you'll doubtless breach T&Cs and risk having your insurance cancelled at the next opportunity; explain that come renewal time 😉

Some time ago a bloke reversed into the front of my car. Put their tow bar through the bumper and ripped the number plate off. Made a right mess.

I wasnt there but they had parked up in front of me. Paint still all over their towbar, towbar shaped hole in the front of my MGTF case closed. I reported it to my insurers who phoned the bloke up.

His response was. Nope i didn't do it. Case closed as far as my insurers were concerned.

Id tell them to go swivel

If the process is unnecessarily slow then you won’t be able to get a competitive quote elsewhere while the investigation is ongoing.

Funnily enough... my insurance renewal on the Skoda (yup..the undriven one!) is up on 5th December.  a week or so ago I went through compare the market (before all this shenanigans) and got a really good price (£200) so went with a new company from 5th Dec..

My life isn't simple is it!

DrP

My life isn’t simple is it!

I'm guessing they'll be your next phone call 🙂

IME they'll just make a note of it, my timing is as impeccable as yours!

I had essentially the same thing (with Churchill) a few years back and they were totally happy with the response "it wasn't me, someone's screwed up, go back to the other company and tell them so". Never provided evidence or anything. It was just righto, sorry to bother you, just to make you aware we may have to contact you again depending on what happens next" but then never heard again, so I assume they either found the mistake or the other person changed their claim in the face of the mild pushback. YMMV of course.

How long has guilty until proven innocent been a thing?<br /><br />

it’s not an allegation of criminality, there is no concept of guilt or innocence for a civil claim.  Your insurer is there to cover any civil claim.  They get to decide if they should settle or not.

His response was. Nope i didn’t do it. Case closed as far as my insurers were concerned.

andybrad - presumably there was no evidence it was caused by him reversing into you rather than you driving into him.  His “defence” would be “if I damaged him and was going to pretend it wasn’t me, I’d surely drive off rather than leave my car there with the damage on show”.   Probably lucky you didn’t get a counterclaim!

Interesting one.

1. Did they reveal if the other party’s insurer was the contact or the punter themselves

2. The check of the MID is £10 a check.

3. There is definitely scope for fat fingers in the process at multiple stages.

4. What have Hastings actually asked for?

5. did the call agent sound like they were stumbling over being able to give you details due to a GDPR firewall?

I appreciate they are (possibly) a budget insurance firm… but… I very much doubt this is the first claim they’ve ever had to deal with, but they are certainly making it feel like that.

Problem with car insurance companies - none of them are "budget" - they all have so much dosh coming in constantly that they don't give 2 shits if they pay out £500 for this £2000 for that, £5000 for the other. They just bung it onto people's premiums and have even more dosh coming in... And when the "damaged" car goes into an Approved Repairer and the reparier charges a few grand on top of what the damage actually costs to repair? Well, I know for a fact that they don't give a **** about that.
That's why it's down to you to prove your innocence.. cos they don't give an monkeys arse if you're guilty or not. Either way they win.

You don’t have to do anything. Ignore these crazy fools. You’ve not done anything and you shouldn’t have to prove otherwise. The insurance firm employs claims investigators. They should be investigating not asking you to do so on their behalf. Not like insurance firms can’t afford it. If you really want to send them details to prove that your car isn’t magical and can’t drive itself down roads that don’t exist, charge them for your time. See how they like being charged lots of money for **** all