Reply to: Car Insurance scam.

[VectraMan]

I've had these as texts quite a few times. Just random numbers I'm sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-inCB3POqs

[clearedforlanding]

*You can actually be involved in a non-fault and fault accident at the same time e.g. in a motorway pile up where someone goes into the back of you and you go into the back of someone else.

This happened to me in Yorkshire albeit on a single carriage way. WRX hits me in back when I was stationary, ploughed me into stationary Civic complete with fart can in front (Yorshire remember). 6 weeks off work. Insurance companies split liability, I received 50% loss of earniings compensation. Was not a happy bunny.

[LondonManc]

Get a voice recorder, establish the name of the company.
Advise them to take you off their database and that by doing so, if they agree to call you, then they agree to accept a £1000 per minute fee. If they ring you again, keep them talking and get an invoice sent.

[Cirrus]

Ahem.

That's not a motorway.

It's a clearway.

[MicrosoftBob]

Also it is quite easy to get hold of all the numbers in the UK even the unregistered ones, automate it and make a call center monkey spam everyone and if one in a thousand falls for it they're quids in

That's the business model

[LucidDementia]

Sorry - you cannot be involved in a motorway pile-up that also involves M & S.

Ahem.

[Cirrus]

*You can actually be involved in a non-fault and fault accident at the same time e.g. in a motorway pile up where someone goes into the back of you and you go into the back of someone else.

Sorry - you cannot be involved in a motorway pile-up that also involves M & S.

[SueEllen]

My father-in-law crashed into M&S last Friday, writing his car off in the process. Last night he had a call from a company claiming to be Motor Insurance Associates. (Or similar. I forget their exact name ). They said "the third party who rear-ended you has admitted liability".

Was this call just a coincidence, I wonder, or have they access to some kind of police/insurance accident database?

It's not clear from what you have written whether your father-in-law was hit, hit someone else or both*. So it may just be a coincidence.

The law about selling claims information came in in 2013 so if the company contacting him was fully or partially correct then he needs to put in a written complaint to his insurer about being contacted that way with as much info as possible about the call. Aviva and other insurers who have caught employees selling information were alerted by customer complaints as well as the actions of these companies.

*You can actually be involved in a non-fault and fault accident at the same time e.g. in a motorway pile up where someone goes into the back of you and you go into the back of someone else.

[Cirrus]

My father-in-law crashed into M&S last Friday, ..."the third party who rear-ended you has admitted liability".

That's all very well but they shouldn't have been driving the shop in a reckless fashion in the first place

[I just need to test it]

My father-in-law crashed into M&S last Friday, writing his car off in the process. Last night he had a call from a company claiming to be Motor Insurance Associates. (Or similar. I forget their exact name ). They said "the third party who rear-ended you has admitted liability".

Was this call just a coincidence, I wonder, or have they access to some kind of police/insurance accident database?

[LucidDementia]

Pyrrhic victory

You manage to thrive on them....

[northernladuk]

To be fair the poor bastards that work on these helplines will have literally thousands of people trying to get smart with them or just go straight for the abuse option. Nothing will phase them and you can't get the moral high ground with them. You are just churn and unless the answer is 'Oh yes, now you mention it I have' they really won't give a flying monkies. You might think you've got smart with them but it's only a Pyrrhic victory at best.

[SueEllen]

It is fraud to impersonate someone else for financial gain.

Edited to say:
You should put a recorder on your phone and spin the conversation out getting as much info about their employer as possible. Then tell them at the end of the call it will be sent to the authorities.

[meridian]

Absolutely this. I make a point of listening to the company name when they speak, if I didn't hear I'll ask again. Then I'll end the call and report it. They do action these but only if people report them.

https://ico.org.uk/concerns/marketin...lesales-calls/

The most annoying thing about this particular type of call is they are probably using data that has been sold on by the insurance companies which is a bit of a disgrace to start off with.

Thanks for the link.

I get a few of these a month, it usually goes:
"I'm from the Accident Helpline, you've been in an accident?
"Sorry, who? Are you a government department?"
"Yes sir, government. Can I have the details of the accident?"
"You do realise that it's fraud to impersonate a government official?"
*click*

*I have no idea if it is fraud to impersonate a government official or not, but they seem to hang up in a hurry when I ask...

[SueEllen]

Remember some of that data has been stolen.

Aviva had an employee who stole customer data and sold it on in a pub.

To minimise data theft some companies ensure off-shore call centres don't have access to all your data. So the only theft of useful data occurs inside the EU.

And the government changed the law on what data insurance companies can sell on. This has actually screwed up one company closely linked to insurers business model.