Insurance scam

Mrs-B had a ding a couple of years ago,  we were not actually in the car at the time, an old bloke dented the rear corner as we walked up to the car.  She had 2 months or more of “lets help you” “you are entitled to compensation”  calls, sometimes numbers per day. 

I read that HM Gov (bless’em) are working to stop this.  The moves so far - & I am not clear if they are in place or just proposals – is that the insurance firms will only consider evidence from accredited doctors.  It also says the number of “claims firms” have reduced drastically following some law changes (not sure what the law changes are)  But then just watch the 2nd string TV channels for the “solicitors” adverts or Google medical compensation & it sure looks to me that “no claim no fee” & “you are entitled for compensation” don’t look too much like reducing to me. 

I guess the insurance cmpys don’t care, they just crank up the cost of OUR insurance to cover their inept policies on this,  so I guess it needs the Gov or something to get this fixed. 

We've had the same experience. It's now nearly three years since some chap inadvertently reversed out of a space in the local B&Q car park & ran into SWMBO's car. Minimal damage, no injuries, all cut and dried. We still receive calls, nowadays implying that a sum has been set aside for the injuries sustained by the collision and unless we claim within a certain time...bla bla bla...

I can't help but get really angry. No wonder insurance is so expensive! There were other aspects of the claims process that annoyed me. OK, it was the other guy's fault but, hey ,sh*t happens. My attitude is to minimise the cost and inconvenience as a result, not use it as an opportunity to make unnecessary claims. Instead of the matter being exclusively dealt with by the insurance company, as used to happen, you now find they unload it to a specialist claims company (more expense). The car needed to stay at the repairers for three days but instead of being given a repairer's cheapo courtesy car, which would have been perfectly fine, the claims company insisted we have something "comparable", in this case we got a brand-new Mercedes SLR-something-or-other, hired from yet another company for a week at eye-watering expense.

This whole system has spiralled out of control so let's hope something can be done. The present system just encourages dishonesty and cheating.

Interesting what you say about the courtesy car. Her little Honda was missing for 5 days and they gave her an new Astra and very much not a basic model. The insurer (again not actually the insurer but the Honda appointed claim management company) clearly then struggled to get this refunded as we had various solictors statements to complete over the ensuing months stating why she had to have a courtesy car (she is a doctor and had to get to work, no public transport option etc) and that we had not stated any particular specification etc. It was clear the responsible party's insurer were challenging it.

Looks like every part of the system is about wringing out as much as possible, and we pay via premiums in the end.

Looks ripe for serious reform to me.

Already reg with TPS. Has almost stopped the other nusisance calls fro double galzing etc but not this bunch.

If we say we are not interested and don't call back they ring back 5 mins later to ask why. Seriously!

Bruce

We are registered with TPS but the calls continue to come. I got tail ended four years ago and if I believed everything I hear I could now be a retired millionaire. I don't know how to stop the calls. My response varies from not interested to abusive language, which is not clever I admit, but my time is not theirs to waste. This nonsense can't be doing anything to premiums except pushing them up. Legislation is long overdue.

I was also on the receiving end of a claim from a con artist for an accident which didn't happen. I had times, dates, witnesses, the lot. My insurance company was very passive about about refuting it and was more concerned that I had adequate legal cover. Says it all.

Tell them your compensation claim was sorted out by Claims Direct (or other), and you've been paid out.

With a bit of luck, they will remove you from the database.

I used to let rip with these sort of calls,but have now changed tact. I say hold on and i`ll get the person you want to speak to,and just put the phone to one side for 15 mins or so.

Mista h

Nice.

I had bit of a rant with one chap and told him his company was responsible for ever rising premiums. He told me the problem was my wife was stupid in having an accident. That conversation went particularly well.

I'm calmer now.

Bruce

And this cottage industry wouldn't exist if there were not so many people willing to be dishonest and try to take advantage.

I have have an attorney buddy over here who cynically refers to the whole personal injury auto accident scheme as the "auto lotto" - and there are plenty of lawyers and physicians willing to play the game to get their piece along with dishonest individuals.

And in fact when I was a practicing chiropractor, I did not fare well in PI because my bills "weren't high enough" - silly me, I thought you should treat the person appropriately for their level of injury and release them. 

Although to be fair, I saw more than a few people who had a car totaled in a wreck through no fault of their own, and got royally screwed on the property damage settlement aspect of the case, such that they were unable to replace their prior car with anything comparable.   If they wanted to "make up" the difference I was not the right guy to be seeing.

Aren't human beings just wonderful?

Mark

Fair points

Where is the incentive for insurers to clamp down and properly police these behaviours though? If they pay out more then premiums rise. This happens across the board so individual companies are not bothered. Everyone has to be insured so what the heck-we shall still pay the premium.

The pressure to reduce spurious claims needs to come from changing the system as well as behaviours and attitudes of claimants.

Bruce

Bruce

I worked in this business, for some years, as an examining GP, before becoming disenchanted with the dishonesty, and calling it a day.

The major problem is that whiplash injuries - the commonest injuries for which compensation is sought - can't, by and large, be proved. It is easy to fake symptoms and, even where symptoms are initially

genuine, to continue to claim their persistence long after resolution.

The Government proposals will solve nothing. The proposed panels of doctors are difficult to convene, establish the problem of who is to write the examination report - is it a single author, or joint, effort? - and are no more likely to arrive at the correct conclusion than is a single honest doctor acting alone.

It seems plain to me that the examining doctor should be registered for the purpose and allocated to the case by a central, disinterested, agency. This gets around the current state where doctors who are willing to favour the claimant are selected preferentially to write reports. I saw much business go elsewhere by refusing to make dishonest representation. There seem to be no moves in this direction from Government.

One approach to the general problem of false claims is to apply existing legal principles rigorously. That is, it should be up to the plaintiff to make their case - not merely claim it. On this basis, nearly all claims will fail, even on 'balance of probability'.

The reflex counterargument is that some with symptoms not of their own making will get no compensation, but I think that this is unaviodable. Overall, any scheme for compensation for injuries of which there is no objective evidence relies on an honest population - and you can't apply the honesty principle to a materially dishonest population and expect a successful outcome.

Fraser

Back in 2002 I had a 4 wheel drive going about 30mph shunt into the back of my BMW which was stationary at some lights. The impact was so severe the engine of my car was dislodged from it mountings and I had a severe hyper flexion whiplash injury. My chin bruised the top of my chest. I had severe neck and arm pains, 'stinger's, for about 2 years. I obviously did claim. I only took a week off work as the majority of my income is from being self employed. I received £3500 in the end which is peanuts compared to the suffering and treatment I had to endure at the hands of the lovely physios. My neck still gives me problems today.  

It's too easy to make a false claim but those who are genuinely injured often receive very little. 

I've been suffering from these calls, too. Wife's car got shunted in the rear at a roundabout over a year ago. No one hurt or even mildly discomforted. Other party accepted liability.  

What I've established is that the other parties insurers has set aside a few grand for minor injury claims and my insurer has sold my details to the third-party compensation claims companies who will now seemingly use any tactic and argument to get me to make a claim so they can get their cut of the compensation.  

I've lost count of the numbers of calls I've received and have used a variety of responses to try to get them to stop calling.  My latest is to point out that, though the policy is in my name, I was not in the vehicle at the time of the accident and therefore have no entitlement to make a claim.  This they accept. The response I then get is to ask for the details of my wife and others in the car at the time of the accident (a couple of my now adult children) so they can contact them.  I then the deploy the argument that I will not pass on the details of any third party to them, any more than the company would pass on details of 3rd parties to me.  This stumps them.  I then point out that the data they have paid for, i.e. my contact details only, is utterly worthless to them!  At this point I find the 'manager' comes on the phone with further arguments but the exchange ends in the same place.

The calls have reduced in number but i still get them.  Come renewal time with my insurer I shall be seeking an explanation as to why they have sold my details to third parties without my permission, thus putting an invited amount of hassle on their 'no-fault' customer.  Renewal is unlikely and I am going to make damn sure they understand why.  This industry needs a serious shake up.