Fake injury claim.
Discussion
My wife had a parking nick in the summer. Her fault, she hit the rear near side corner of another car, but at very low speed, with the only damage being the other guy’s car having the rear light a bit wobbly afterwards, suggesting a clip had broken.
No bent metal, no damaged paintwork, just a silly mistake with fortunately a very minor outcome.
She gave her details, and heard nothing more, until she came to renew this week, and found that the third party has put in a personal injury claim for compensation and lost earnings for whiplash and leg injuries.
She and I don’t think that this is believable. His car didn’t move forward in the collision, hers stopped at the point of impact. The airbags did not deploy, nothing deformed, it was genuinely only enough to slightly move one corner light.
Her premium has now gone through the roof, and the insurance company (a generally decent and well-known one) says that they cannot discuss the third party’s injuries. Is there any recourse at all to challenge what is now an very expensive claim to have on her record?
No bent metal, no damaged paintwork, just a silly mistake with fortunately a very minor outcome.
She gave her details, and heard nothing more, until she came to renew this week, and found that the third party has put in a personal injury claim for compensation and lost earnings for whiplash and leg injuries.
She and I don’t think that this is believable. His car didn’t move forward in the collision, hers stopped at the point of impact. The airbags did not deploy, nothing deformed, it was genuinely only enough to slightly move one corner light.
Her premium has now gone through the roof, and the insurance company (a generally decent and well-known one) says that they cannot discuss the third party’s injuries. Is there any recourse at all to challenge what is now an very expensive claim to have on her record?
its unlikely that you will have any recourse, your wife by the sounds of it has admitted fault for the incident, and that is why the premiums have gone up.
The insurers will have required medical reports before they paid anything for the PI claim, unless they made a pre med offer to settle it quickly.
The insurers will have required medical reports before they paid anything for the PI claim, unless they made a pre med offer to settle it quickly.
As said above the PI claim won’t make a difference to the premium, it’s the fact she’s had an “at fault” claim that counts.
Without dashcam evidence or anything concrete to offer the insurance company it’s unlikely she’ll be of much use to them in defending the case.
I’ve heard that insurance companies are not as passive when it comes to these claims as they used to be, or people think they are.
Without dashcam evidence or anything concrete to offer the insurance company it’s unlikely she’ll be of much use to them in defending the case.
I’ve heard that insurance companies are not as passive when it comes to these claims as they used to be, or people think they are.
scoey1001 said:
Sorry can't help with the claim etc. but just wanted to check she did shop around for quotes and not just go with the renewal? What sort of increase are we talking out of interest?
Only up from £400 to £600 on hers, but it’s ruled out adding her on any of mine this year.Durzel said:
As said above the PI claim won’t make a difference to the premium, it’s the fact she’s had an “at fault” claim that counts.
Without dashcam evidence or anything concrete to offer the insurance company it’s unlikely she’ll be of much use to them in defending the case.
I’ve heard that insurance companies are not as passive when it comes to these claims as they used to be, or people think they are.
No dash am evidence. They stopped and spoke after the knock, and the guy said that he thought the light might have been knocked loose, and that he’d get it looked at.Without dashcam evidence or anything concrete to offer the insurance company it’s unlikely she’ll be of much use to them in defending the case.
I’ve heard that insurance companies are not as passive when it comes to these claims as they used to be, or people think they are.
I’m as annoyed at the fact that scrotes can pocket thousands of pounds through such an easy fraud with no come back as I am that it’s costing us extra.
Kent Border Kenny said:
Only up from £400 to £600 on hers, but it’s ruled out adding her on any of mine this year.
Is that mainly because they've dropped her no-claims down? It might have happened simply for the repairs to the other car regardless of claim value. Unlikely the injury claim would have been settled yet, unless they made a quick cash settlement.KungFuPanda said:
Can you disclose the medical report that you are in possession of to confirm that the third party's injuries are indeed fake? A redacted version will suffice.
I’m pretty sure that you are taking the piss here, but no. A knock that did not move his car at all didn’t injure his leg and give him whiplash.Its not as simple as just claiming whiplash and the insurance company pay out, you have to go and see a medical professional who is registered so that the insurance company will accept the claim, then it maybe that the insurance just pay for rehab and the other party doesnt claim any actual money.
The issue here is that depending on the individual, even an impact at a few miles an hour can cause pain, whiplash is effectively the same as when you workout at the gym and you hurt the following day.
Without knowing the previous medical history of the other driver, you dont know whether this is a fraudulent claim or not, you only assume it is because you dont think that it could have caused injury.
I once dealt with a claim where it was a relatively small rear end impact, however, the driver of the car in front had an existing lower back medical condition, this means that she couldnt get out of the car, and the fire brigade had to remove the roof of her relatively new car to remove her from the car.
The issue here is that depending on the individual, even an impact at a few miles an hour can cause pain, whiplash is effectively the same as when you workout at the gym and you hurt the following day.
Without knowing the previous medical history of the other driver, you dont know whether this is a fraudulent claim or not, you only assume it is because you dont think that it could have caused injury.
I once dealt with a claim where it was a relatively small rear end impact, however, the driver of the car in front had an existing lower back medical condition, this means that she couldnt get out of the car, and the fire brigade had to remove the roof of her relatively new car to remove her from the car.
Smurfsarepeopletoo said:
Its not as simple as just claiming whiplash and the insurance company pay out, you have to go and see a medical professional who is registered so that the insurance company will accept the claim, then it maybe that the insurance just pay for rehab and the other party doesnt claim any actual money.
The issue here is that depending on the individual, even an impact at a few miles an hour can cause pain, whiplash is effectively the same as when you workout at the gym and you hurt the following day.
Without knowing the previous medical history of the other driver, you dont know whether this is a fraudulent claim or not, you only assume it is because you dont think that it could have caused injury.
I once dealt with a claim where it was a relatively small rear end impact, however, the driver of the car in front had an existing lower back medical condition, this means that she couldnt get out of the car, and the fire brigade had to remove the roof of her relatively new car to remove her from the car.
Yet before compensation and ambulance chasing lawyers hardly anyone got whiplash. Just about every fraudulent claim will have involved a medical professional.The issue here is that depending on the individual, even an impact at a few miles an hour can cause pain, whiplash is effectively the same as when you workout at the gym and you hurt the following day.
Without knowing the previous medical history of the other driver, you dont know whether this is a fraudulent claim or not, you only assume it is because you dont think that it could have caused injury.
I once dealt with a claim where it was a relatively small rear end impact, however, the driver of the car in front had an existing lower back medical condition, this means that she couldnt get out of the car, and the fire brigade had to remove the roof of her relatively new car to remove her from the car.
Fraud is rife these days and it's costing all of us year on year.
Allowing conditional fees was indeed a bad policy, and it should be reversed, but the question of who causes compensation culture is a chicken and egg question. Whiplash does exist, and it existed before conditional fees were permitted. As for the idea of compensation for injury, that is not a recent invention. It dates back to pre-Roman times.
As for fraud being rife "these days", fraud has always been rife.
As for fraud being rife "these days", fraud has always been rife.
98elise said:
Yet before compensation and ambulance chasing lawyers hardly anyone got whiplash. Just about every fraudulent claim will have involved a medical professional.
Fraud is rife these days and it's costing all of us year on year.
There will be fraudulent claims, however, not all claims are fraudulent, the issue here is, the OP is trying to argue that there couldn't be an injury, and the only evidence he has is his opinion.Fraud is rife these days and it's costing all of us year on year.
And potentially the only information he has is second hand information from his wife if he wasnt in the car.
Kent Border Kenny said:
KungFuPanda said:
Can you disclose the medical report that you are in possession of to confirm that the third party's injuries are indeed fake? A redacted version will suffice.
I’m pretty sure that you are taking the piss here, but no. A knock that did not move his car at all didn’t injure his leg and give him whiplash.Comment from a layman will not be enough to defeat the medical evidence.
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