Suspected fake personal injury claim

hooch-85

I was involved in a minor accident 6 weeks ago where a Dyna pick up pulled out of a side road really slowly and almost caused a pile up.

The car in front of me slammed on brakes when the Dyna pulled out, I braked and ended up hitting the right rear bumper of the car in front. My own car was badly damaged but the car i hit was only minor damage, i.e. rear bumper needed replacing.

Even though i didnt cause the accident i had to fix the car in front which i did through my insurance. All of the above is down on the accident claim form thing i had to complete. Gards were called on the day and the woman i hit was perfect, no pains or complaints whatsoever.

Today I get a registered letter saying she is seeking compensation for personal injury, loss of earnings etc..

I would be 90% sure this is a fraudulent claim. I dont want my insurance to get raped anymore. Is there anything i can do about this?

Can I get the Garda report into the incident cause i clearly remember her saying she was fine and she drove away from the incident?

If i admit liability on this does that automatically mean she is entitled to compensation?

MagicSean

Whiplash can take up to three days to develop. It cannot generally be diagnosed with the use of MRI or X-ray. When struck from the rear unexpectedly the whiplash is more likely to develop slowly and last long term. Your insurance company will most likely pay out on this after an assessment by the injuries board. There's not much you can do.

hooch-85

I spoke to the woman on a number of occasions after the crash, just to make sure her car was being sorted etc, she was nice as pie on the fone, no mention whatsoever of any injuries.

unfortunately you are not a doctor and cannot possibly know if this woman has a 'fake injury'

i was involved in a crash, not my fault, 3 months later i realised the problem with my shoulder was due to that crash.

its really up to your insurance company to worry about false claims.

oh and just so you are aware, you ARE responsible for the crash, you hit the car from behind because you were not driving at a safe speed/distance to be capable of stopping without hitting her. that is your fault.

Reloc8

You're in receipt of a standard form letter of claim - no need to panic. Do not respond to the letter yourself. Immediately contact your insurer and tell them what's going on. They'll deal with it, instructing solicitors as necessary.

Any step on your part to admitting liability and what not can cause your insurance to become void leaving you personally liable. Equally if you don't notify your insurer, and try and 'sort this out' yourself, you are at huge risk of your insurer refusing to indemnify you. Getting the garda report form etc. etc. etc. - your insurer and their appointed solicitor will look after all this.

OK its pretty crappy to be involved in a claim - but this is why you have insurance in the first place.

NB don't get sucked into dialogue on here regarding whether the claim is a scam or not - who knows, and who cares. You get in touch with your insurer, pronto.

hooch-85

Reloc8 wrote: »

You're in receipt of a standard form letter of claim - no need to panic. Do not respond to the letter yourself. Immediately contact your insurer and tell them what's going on. They'll deal with it, instructing solicitors as necessary.

Any step on your part to admitting liability and what not can cause your insurance to become void leaving you personally liable. Equally if you don't notify your insurer, and try and 'sort this out' yourself, you are at huge risk of your insurer refusing to indemnify you. Getting the garda report form etc. etc. etc. - your insurer and their appointed solicitor will look after all this.

OK its pretty crappy to be involved in a claim - but this is why you have insurance in the first place.

NB don't get sucked into dialogue on here regarding whether the claim is a scam or not - who knows, and who cares. You get in touch with your insurer, pronto.

Thank you for the sound advice.

@ Bubblypop i did take responsibility for hitting her car, i know that and i got her car fixed but i did not cause the crash, the guy who pulled out did and the gardai are persuing him on a dangerous driving charge as a result of the incident.

scholar007

Interesting post - Sorry for your trouble, its not nice when that happens.

Have the insurance companies hyped up all this thing about fake personal injury claims though? In the UK every second ad on the telly is telling you about lawyers who work for no foal no fee and you should make a claim if you have been in an accident.

Here in Ireland, we have the insurance companies advertising about all the alleged scammers out there which would put anyone off making a claim to be honest.

BrianD

From experience, hand it to your insurance company and let them deal with it. Make sure you do not attempt to deal with it yourself or enter into any correspondence with the other party. Unless you've decided that you want to be personally liable.

You'll probably be asked to statement and hear little more about it. They'll ask you in an ambulance was called as well, if the person was wearing as seatbelt on and so on.

It will more than likely be settled out of court and your no claims bonus takes a hit.

hooch-85

BrianD wrote: »

From experience, hand it to your insurance company and let them deal with it. Make sure you do not attempt to deal with it yourself or enter into any correspondence with the other party. Unless you've decided that you want to be personally liable.

You'll probably be asked to statement and hear little more about it. They'll ask you in an ambulance was called as well, if the person was wearing as seatbelt on and so on.

It will more than likely be settled out of court and your no claims bonus takes a hit.

Thanks for that. I am sending the letter to my insurance tomorrow. My ncb has already taken a hit with the repairs to her car, does anyone know if this will be treated as part of the same claim or treated separately? Will i loose all my ncb now because of this. I have step back protection on my policy which meant i went from 5yrs back to 3 yrs ncb as a result of the repairs claim. I can't afford to loose box more of my ncb.

cml387

I know it's too late now, and god knows all of us could be in the same situation tomorrow but,in the event of an accident, especially when you may be responsible:

Don't admit responsibility.

Try to get witness statements.

Take photographs of the scene.

Do inform your insurance company immediately.

slimjimmc

hooch-85 wrote: »

Thank you for the sound advice.

@ Bubblypop i did take responsibility for hitting her car, i know that and i got her car fixed but i did not cause the crash, the guy who pulled out did and the gardai are persuing him on a dangerous driving charge as a result of the incident.

Unfortunately you did cause your crash. No matter which way you look at it, the fact is you rear-ended the car in front because you failed to stop in time. That usually boils down to not leaving sufficient braking distance to allow for the car in front to come to an abrupt stop for whatever reason. The 3 second rule is the minimum you need.

The Dyna merely caused the other car to stop abruptly, you caused the rear-end collision. I'm guessing the other car didn't hit the Dyna.

I'm not having a go at you Hooch-85, very few drivers leave enough space.


Let your insurer deal with PI claim directly.

Pkiernan

OP - it is a bitter pill that you unfortunately must swallow.

Compo culture is rampant in Ireland, even more so.

This woman will claim to the max, and will settle with your insurance company. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.


And before all the Devil's Advocates get on their high horses - this is 99.9999% a scam.

This last winter, I was rear ended by other vehicles on 3 separate occasions; 1 of which hurt for a few days. But I am not a dirtbag who will sue, sue, sue for a free lunch. I told all 3 drivers not to worry, and let them on their way.

If I was you, I'd just try to let it go.

Who knows - in a few years karma may just bite her back.