Letter from insurer for vehicle I sold 5 years ago!

[alfa-alex]

Hi all,

I’m hoping someone can offer some advice!

I had a letter from an insurance company in December (delivered to an address I moved from 5 and a half years ago, but I happened to pop by to drop in some photos to the owner a few days ago.

The insurance company is saying that a vehicle has been involved in an incident in November 2018. They have provided a registration number for the vehicle but I sold this vehicle in 2014.

I don’t have any paperwork associated to the vehicle now as it’s been so long.

Should I ignore it as it’s been sent to an address that I no longer live at or should I respond to it and risk opening myself to the hassle of having to prove I haven’t owned the vehicle for years.

I definitely notified DVLA with the change of owner so I can only presume the insurance company have been going through the cars previous insurance policies for people that will respond.

Thanks for any help!

Alex

[BertBert]

I would let them know, now you know about it.
Bert

[anonymous-user]

I would phone them and tell them.

[Francy555]

I definitely notified DVLA with the change of owner so I can only presume the insurance company have been going through the cars previous insurance policies for people that will respond.

That's exactly what they're doing... Hoping that someone still has an active policy on the car!

I had the same over 15 years ago when I still lived with the parents, insurance company kept ringing my then home address telling my mum they needed to speak to me about an accident I had... Mum kept giving the insurance Co my mobile no but they never rang me on it.

Happened to be at home when they again rang one day and after giving them a mouthful for insinuating that I'd had an accident and stressing my mum out they then gave the accident details, it was a car I'd sold 2yrs previously.

After telling them that and having to send the copy of the dvla letter saying thank you for notification that you no longer own the car along with a letter stating any further correspondence regarding this accident or car other than acknowledgement of receipt of the dvla letter would be treated as harassment and dealt with accordingly I recieved a phone call from their head of customer services apologising for annoying my mother and not contacting me directly when provided with my mobile no.

[martinbiz]

Just phone them and tell them the facts

[4rephill]

BertBert said:

I would let them know, now you know about it.
Bert

jsf said:

I would phone them and tell them.

+1

Don't just ignore it, or things could escalate in ways you really don't want them to.

Contact the insurance company involved, and inform them that you sold the car 4 years prior to the incident they are referring to. Tell them to check with the DVLA for a change of keeper four years ago (even if the new owner didn't bother to update the owner information, you should have told them you'd sold the car, so there should be a record to support what you're telling the insurance company)

[alfa-alex]

Thanks all, I’ll give them a call tomorrow and update if anything interesting happens!

[superlightr]

an insurance company or your insurance company? or a ambulance chasing type insurance company?

I still get these from time to time from not my car insurance firm regarding a crash 5 years ago - just ignore. The crash was all dealt with by my proper car insurance at the time and we have the same car still and insurance co.

[W124Bob]

Might be worth cross checking the date of the incident against your own diary, I know it's 14 months ago but if you have any proof you were some where else it all helps.

[martinbiz]

W124Bob said:

Might be worth cross checking the date of the incident against your own diary, I know it's 14 months ago but if you have any proof you were some where else it all helps.

It’s for a car he sold 5 years ago and he also doesn’t have to “prove” anything

OP is the letter from a random 3rd party’s insurer or from a company you are or have been insured with?

[EU_Foreigner]

The last thing the OP wants is a "claim" on his record that other companies will be able to see, so best to clear it up.

[alfa-alex]

It was from a random third party insurer.

Called them today, “according to the police you’re the registered keeper” a quick call to the DVLA shows I’m not the registered keeper, after I sold it to a private individual it went into the motor trade where it has remained since.
Another call to the insurance company and they’ve said they’ll do their own DVLA check but I shouldn’t hear any more from them.

A vehicle check shows it hasn’t been taxed or MOTed since 2015.

I’m curious to know where it’s been and what it’s been up to in that time! And if the vehicle still exists or if someone is just using the reg number! But I guess I’ll never know.

[Pica-Pica]

alfa-alex said:

I’m curious to know where it’s been and what it’s been up to in that time! And if the vehicle still exists or if someone is just using the reg number! But I guess I’ll never know.

Too much time on your hands. Not yours, and not your problem.

[martinbiz]

OP I would get the person who you spoke to at the ins co to confirm your conversation in an email. The most likely scenario here is that your old plates are on a clone or a ringer

[martinbiz]

alfa-alex said:

Called them today, “according to the police you’re the registered keeper” a quick call to the DVLA shows I’m not the registered keeper, after I sold it to a private individual it went into the motor trade where it has remained since.

Which just goes to show the police vehicle check database is about as useful as a chocolate spanner

[sospan]

All your actions have shown you complied with DVLA when you sold the car.
The insurance company said police stated you were the owner?
Unlikely. They would have DVLA info re the history of the car showing you declared it sold. Whether or not the new owner(s) since then have complied is between DVLA and the owners.

[martinbiz]

sospan said:

Unlikely. They would have DVLA info re the history of the car showing you declared it sold. Whether or not the new owner(s) since then have complied is between DVLA and the owners.

Why not , that is where they collect their info for a vehicle check from, more likely plod misread it and gave the wrong information to the ins co

[Bigends]

martinbiz said:

sospan said:

Unlikely. They would have DVLA info re the history of the car showing you declared it sold. Whether or not the new owner(s) since then have complied is between DVLA and the owners.

Why not , that is where they collect their info for a vehicle check from, more likely plod misread it and gave the wrong information to the ins co

Could well be - PNC may well show the OP shown as previous keeper with vehicle status - in trade

[martinbiz]

Bigends said:

martinbiz said:

sospan said:

Unlikely. They would have DVLA info re the history of the car showing you declared it sold. Whether or not the new owner(s) since then have complied is between DVLA and the owners.

Why not , that is where they collect their info for a vehicle check from, more likely plod misread it and gave the wrong information to the ins co

Could well be - PNC may well show the OP shown as previous keeper with vehicle status - in trade

I agree this and plod just giving the previous keepers name instead of checking it properly

[Hol]

martinbiz said:

Bigends said:

martinbiz said:

sospan said:

Unlikely. They would have DVLA info re the history of the car showing you declared it sold. Whether or not the new owner(s) since then have complied is between DVLA and the owners.

Why not , that is where they collect their info for a vehicle check from, more likely plod misread it and gave the wrong information to the ins co

Could well be - PNC may well show the OP shown as previous keeper with vehicle status - in trade

I agree this and plod just giving the previous keepers name instead of checking it properly

It could also be that the insurance Co were told it was in trade, but decided to try their luck with the OP, in case it was him that put it there.
Especially, if the trader is no longer in existence.