I'm being scammed and I'm furious
Discussion
Hi all, would appreciate some good advice.
I have received a solicitors letter along with a personal injury claim. "This is a personal claim being made against you. Please ensure that that your insurance company responds to this claim on your behalf, within 1 working day of receipt".
The claim is entirely false, and (if I understand the meaning of the word correctly) malicious. There isn't a grain of truth in it. Essentially it is a claim by someone who claims he was injured whilst operating a grinder at my premises in January 2017.
I feel that the solicitor has carried out no due diligence whatsoever, and to my mind is complicit in the fraudulent claim.
What can I do?
I have phoned my insurance broker, they say they have never dealt with anything like this before (I was curious to see if they said "oh we get these all the time").
I have phoned the firm of solicitors, the person I spoke to has said that they have checked that there is an insurance policy in place at my business (I presume no claim would have been made without).
I'm furious. I don't want to dance to their tune. If I pass it on to my insurance company, I am not in control of what happens. My record, goodwill, no-claims bonus or whatever may be adversely affected.
I am now thinking that I am not going to pass this on to my insurance company. Why should I?
Really would appreciate some knowledgeable help with this, guys, thanks.
I have received a solicitors letter along with a personal injury claim. "This is a personal claim being made against you. Please ensure that that your insurance company responds to this claim on your behalf, within 1 working day of receipt".
The claim is entirely false, and (if I understand the meaning of the word correctly) malicious. There isn't a grain of truth in it. Essentially it is a claim by someone who claims he was injured whilst operating a grinder at my premises in January 2017.
I feel that the solicitor has carried out no due diligence whatsoever, and to my mind is complicit in the fraudulent claim.
What can I do?
I have phoned my insurance broker, they say they have never dealt with anything like this before (I was curious to see if they said "oh we get these all the time").
I have phoned the firm of solicitors, the person I spoke to has said that they have checked that there is an insurance policy in place at my business (I presume no claim would have been made without).
I'm furious. I don't want to dance to their tune. If I pass it on to my insurance company, I am not in control of what happens. My record, goodwill, no-claims bonus or whatever may be adversely affected.
I am now thinking that I am not going to pass this on to my insurance company. Why should I?
Really would appreciate some knowledgeable help with this, guys, thanks.
Getragdogleg said:
1. Was the person claiming to be injured at your premises when they said they were injured ?
2. Do you know the person ?
3. Was there an accident with a grinder ?
Thanks very much for your response. 2. Do you know the person ?
3. Was there an accident with a grinder ?
1. No.
2. No, not at all.
3. No. Never been any accident to anybody ever, at our premises.
The whole thing is made up, and hence my thoughts re due diligence and the solicitors being complicit.
Do not ignore.
Do tell your insurers.
Do tell them it's malicious/fraudulent.
They will defend on your behalf, because they stand to lose more (financially) than you.
If you decide to defend it yourself, and it does get escalated, you could spend a lot of money that you won't get back. If you ignore the letter, it could well get escalated, because the solicitor for the other side doesn't yet know it's a fraudulent claim.
Oh, and if you ask for free legal advice on the internet, then more often than not, the advice you receive will be worth exactly what you paid for it.
Do tell your insurers.
Do tell them it's malicious/fraudulent.
They will defend on your behalf, because they stand to lose more (financially) than you.
If you decide to defend it yourself, and it does get escalated, you could spend a lot of money that you won't get back. If you ignore the letter, it could well get escalated, because the solicitor for the other side doesn't yet know it's a fraudulent claim.
Oh, and if you ask for free legal advice on the internet, then more often than not, the advice you receive will be worth exactly what you paid for it.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Do you have premises and employer's liability insurance. If so, pass it on to them.
Yes, and that's what they're seeking to claim against.My thoughts are, why should I send it to them? I don't pay insurance so that I/they can be scammed against.
How can I be sure that passing it on to my insurance won't have a detrimental effect?
First I am not a lawyer or an insurance expert so give my opinion the appropriate weight.
I would suggest that since personal injury claims can easily go to many thousands your insurance company will not just pay out if they know it is a false claim.
If this person has never worked for you it will be simple to defend. Where is his payroll records? Your accountant can prove he was never an employee.
It may be a condition of your insurance that any prospective claims are notified to them. Failing to notify them might afect your cover.
So my feeling is that the letter (after taking a copy) should be sent to your insurance company along with your statement to the effect the claim is a complete fiction. He/she was never an employee and no acident happened. Then let them deal with it.
Edit I see while I was typing Doofus said exactly the same thing.
I would suggest that since personal injury claims can easily go to many thousands your insurance company will not just pay out if they know it is a false claim.
If this person has never worked for you it will be simple to defend. Where is his payroll records? Your accountant can prove he was never an employee.
It may be a condition of your insurance that any prospective claims are notified to them. Failing to notify them might afect your cover.
So my feeling is that the letter (after taking a copy) should be sent to your insurance company along with your statement to the effect the claim is a complete fiction. He/she was never an employee and no acident happened. Then let them deal with it.
Edit I see while I was typing Doofus said exactly the same thing.
Dealt with a couple of these in previous workplace.
Do contact your insurer to make them aware, scan a copy of the letter to them.
When I have dealt with these types of claims, I confirm with the insurer that the person didn't work there and we have no records of the accident. They tend not to hear about it after that, as it will be up to the claimant to prove that they did work there and have evidence that lose occurred in the first place.
Do contact your insurer to make them aware, scan a copy of the letter to them.
When I have dealt with these types of claims, I confirm with the insurer that the person didn't work there and we have no records of the accident. They tend not to hear about it after that, as it will be up to the claimant to prove that they did work there and have evidence that lose occurred in the first place.
I guess what your Insurance Broker means is that they don't ever receive letters of claim relating to made-up incidents? They must have seen plenty of letters of claim before. The ones that advertise on daytime tv are here in Taunton and across all of my clients I must see a handful a year from them.
It saddens me that you don't think you can trust your insurers or your broker to handle this well for you. Do think about speaking to a decent outfit at renewal. No insurer wants to pay out for a spurious claim - as many on PH will bemoan, they are in the business of making money. Paying out spurious EL claims doesn't really help the profit margins!
Likewise, your broker if they're worth their salt, will want to help you out as much as possible by keeping on top of the insurer and making sure things are going the right way. I'm not the only one in the country who does that. I'm not even the only broker on PH who would do that for their client.
Had an email last week saying the claimant had dropped their claim against one of my clients. His former employee even got the HSE involved. Insurers defended it from the off.
TL:DR - send it to your broker right away so they can forward it to your insurer. Make sure they keep you posted.
It saddens me that you don't think you can trust your insurers or your broker to handle this well for you. Do think about speaking to a decent outfit at renewal. No insurer wants to pay out for a spurious claim - as many on PH will bemoan, they are in the business of making money. Paying out spurious EL claims doesn't really help the profit margins!
Likewise, your broker if they're worth their salt, will want to help you out as much as possible by keeping on top of the insurer and making sure things are going the right way. I'm not the only one in the country who does that. I'm not even the only broker on PH who would do that for their client.
Had an email last week saying the claimant had dropped their claim against one of my clients. His former employee even got the HSE involved. Insurers defended it from the off.
TL:DR - send it to your broker right away so they can forward it to your insurer. Make sure they keep you posted.
PistonBroker said:
I guess what your Insurance Broker means is that they don't ever receive letters of claim relating to made-up incidents? They must have seen plenty of letters of claim before. The ones that advertise on daytime tv are here in Taunton and across all of my clients I must see a handful a year from them.
It saddens me that you don't think you can trust your insurers or your broker to handle this well for you. Do think about speaking to a decent outfit at renewal. No insurer wants to pay out for a spurious claim - as many on PH will bemoan, they are in the business of making money. Paying out spurious EL claims doesn't really help the profit margins!
Likewise, your broker if they're worth their salt, will want to help you out as much as possible by keeping on top of the insurer and making sure things are going the right way. I'm not the only one in the country who does that. I'm not even the only broker on PH who would do that for their client.
Had an email last week saying the claimant had dropped their claim against one of my clients. His former employee even got the HSE involved. Insurers defended it from the off.
TL:DR - send it to your broker right away so they can forward it to your insurer. Make sure they keep you posted.
i can't help with this thread, but i've just noticed that you used to be my insurance broker when my businesses were in Taunton and you guys were brillliant. It saddens me that you don't think you can trust your insurers or your broker to handle this well for you. Do think about speaking to a decent outfit at renewal. No insurer wants to pay out for a spurious claim - as many on PH will bemoan, they are in the business of making money. Paying out spurious EL claims doesn't really help the profit margins!
Likewise, your broker if they're worth their salt, will want to help you out as much as possible by keeping on top of the insurer and making sure things are going the right way. I'm not the only one in the country who does that. I'm not even the only broker on PH who would do that for their client.
Had an email last week saying the claimant had dropped their claim against one of my clients. His former employee even got the HSE involved. Insurers defended it from the off.
TL:DR - send it to your broker right away so they can forward it to your insurer. Make sure they keep you posted.
[sorry- know its Off topic, but its nice to make these connections....]
heebeegeetee said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Do you have premises and employer's liability insurance. If so, pass it on to them.
Yes, and that's what they're seeking to claim against.My thoughts are, why should I send it to them? I don't pay insurance so that I/they can be scammed against.
How can I be sure that passing it on to my insurance won't have a detrimental effect?
It may well go against you. But if you ignore or deal with it yourself, it could go against you. Then you'll be picking up the tab.
You paid for a policy to deal with claims against you. You have a claim against you. Use the policy you bought, for this very eventuality.
If the Injured Party (IP) actually employed by you or was he a contractor / agency bod?
Is IP claiming for a lost time injury?
Is IP still working on site?
Do any of your existing employees know IP
How many do you employ?
As a starter for 10 - Dig out the following docs:
Risk Assessment for use of grinder
If appropriate dig out training record for IP
Site Induction Records for IP if contractor
Maintenance records for grinder and guards
Provision of signage in vicinity of grinder - i.e. PPE, authorised employees only, etc.
Records for issue of any PPE
Accident book around alleged incident date
First Aid book around alleged incident date
Attendance sheets for IP
May seem a ball ache but if IP claim gathers momentum, you'll need this stuff anyway - best to be prepared
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