Accident Claim Call. Should I/Shouldn't I?

[ElusiveEd]

Hi Guys,

 

Advice Needed.

 

I never answer the phone if I don't recognise the number but, as I'm expecting my manager to ring from distance, I just did and was bloody caught out by claims company about a minor car accident I had in March.

 

 I was about to just hang up but became intrigued on how these people work.

 

Anyway, I cautiously went thro very basic stuff with him and found myself being manipulated (Or so he believed) into thinking I had probably gotten a neck injury.

 

At the end of "his' call I was then put thro to his supervisor who gave me his script and advised me on what answers I always need to give to whoever I then spoke to regarding the claim, i.e. What injury, how long for, etc, and that I self medicated. He told me there would be ABSOLUTELY no costs to me as they take their share from the insurers themselves and they have a 100% success rate blah de blah.

 

After that I was put thro to a Claims Solicitor. Now I'm really intrigued. She went thro the legal stuff and said they would work on the case blah blah blah.

 

By now I'm thinking maybe I might just go for this and what have I got to lose, etc? but I'm EXTREMELY wary and sceptical and am almost certain I won't bother

 

She then went on about the costs, etc and I thought, this is where I need to listen as it's probably where the catch is.

 

 This is the "technical' bit....

 

There is a 'Conditional Fee Agreement" If I win I pay them their Basic Charges and Disbursements and a Success Fee saying I 'Will normally be entitled to to seek recovery from my opponent of the Basic Charges and Disbursements but if the amount awarded is less than that then I would have to pay the difference' I will always have to pay the Success Fee which is set at 100% of the basic charges and the amount is limited to 25%+VAT of the award.

 If I lose I will not have to pay a Success Fee (No Sh1t Sherlock) and I will not GENERALLY 

have to pay the Basic Charges or Disbursements but I will be ordered to pay the other sides costs which will not be enforced unless there seems to be grounds for dishonesty.

 

My question is should I just go for this? (even though I'm not completely understanding the techie side) I was slightly put into discomfort by the impact but it was nothing really and I'm one of these who just "Gets on with it" and just said "It's fine" at the time and just wanted the car fixed up. (Which they did)

 

 I'm very sceptical and wary but also very intrigued but don't want it ending up where I'm out of pocket etc.

 

 Any others have any experiences with this stuff? Maybe the small print 'techie' stuff is just normal and I'm paranoid or am I right in being wary? Any Pitfalls I should be concerned about?

 

Any advice greatly received.

 

  Cheers.

[davieG]

Hi Guys,

 

Advice Needed.

 

I never answer the phone if I don't recognise the number but, as I'm expecting my manager to ring from distance, I just did and was bloody caught out by claims company about a minor car accident I had in March.

 

 I was about to just hang up but became intrigued on how these people work.

 

Anyway, I cautiously went thro very basic stuff with him and found myself being manipulated (Or so he believed) into thinking I had probably gotten a neck injury.

 

At the end of "his' call I was then put thro to his supervisor who gave me his script and advised me on what answers I always need to give to whoever I then spoke to regarding the claim, i.e. What injury, how long for, etc, and that I self medicated. He told me there would be ABSOLUTELY no costs to me as they take their share from the insurers themselves and they have a 100% success rate blah de blah.

 

After that I was put thro to a Claims Solicitor. Now I'm really intrigued. She went thro the legal stuff and said they would work on the case blah blah blah.

 

By now I'm thinking maybe I might just go for this and what have I got to lose, etc? but I'm EXTREMELY wary and sceptical and am almost certain I won't bother

 

She then went on about the costs, etc and I thought, this is where I need to listen as it's probably where the catch is.

 

 This is the "technical' bit....

 

There is a 'Conditional Fee Agreement" If I win I pay them their Basic Charges and Disbursements and a Success Fee saying I 'Will normally be entitled to to seek recovery from my opponent of the Basic Charges and Disbursements but if the amount awarded is less than that then I would have to pay the difference' I will always have to pay the Success Fee which is set at 100% of the basic charges and the amount is limited to 25%+VAT of the award.

 If I lose I will not have to pay a Success Fee (No Sh1t Sherlock) and I will not GENERALLY 

have to pay the Basic Charges or Disbursements but I will be ordered to pay the other sides costs which will not be enforced unless there seems to be grounds for dishonesty.

 

My question is should I just go for this? (even though I'm not completely understanding the techie side) I was slightly put into discomfort by the impact but it was nothing really and I'm one of these who just "Gets on with it" and just said "It's fine" at the time and just wanted the car fixed up. (Which they did)

 

 I'm very sceptical and wary but also very intrigued but don't want it ending up where I'm out of pocket etc.

 

 Any others have any experiences with this stuff? Maybe the small print 'techie' stuff is just normal and I'm paranoid or am I right in being wary? Any Pitfalls I should be concerned about?

 

Any advice greatly received.

 

  Cheers.

Confused, are there costs or not?

[whoareyaaa]

I would stay well clear of this, If you are unsure contact a company called Fentons no-win-no-fee as that is who I used when claiming a whiplash accident.

 

These types of companys that call you are 9 times out of 10 after your money.

[kingcarr21]

When my car was wrote off i spent the night in hospital with neck and spinal injuries. Nothing too serious just bad whiplash. I called injury lawyers for you the next day and 6 months later got £3000 with the no win no fee.

 

This is bound to bite you in the arse i reckon as they are calling you trying to convince you to agree to something that you dont fully understand.

 

Put simply if you dont fully understand what you are getting yourself into then steer well clear of it.

 

I also got involved in loan agreements/car finance consolidation (i didnt fully understand what was happening, young and naive) etc when i was 18 which almost made me bankrupt (long story).

[ElusiveEd]

Thanks guys.

 

All 3 replies are pretty much confirming my suspicions and concerns.

 

There was a part of me that would have gone for it if I thought there was a few £ in it but summin just doesn't feel or sit right such is why I came for advice.

 

Which I'm very gladly going to take*

 

Thanks again.

 

 *Bizarre how these days (Probably down to social media) it feels very right to trust and take advice from what are complete strangers whereas not all that long ago it would be a def no no. The only thing we all have in common on here is we support the same football team yet here I am taking financial advice and happy to do so. 

[Rincewind]

I would rather see the person  and paperwork in front of me. Even then I would take it  home to reread or have someone look at before signing.

The phone callers work on commission so everyone they can hook in is good for them. I have had many car accidents even though I do not have a car or drive. I could be a millionaire by now if I had won all those cases.

[Strokes]

I don't think you should be suing for compensation unless you have suffered a financial loss based on the accident, personally.

[Rincewind]

The sad thing is a lot of pensioners have been caught out. They think they can have a little extra put aside sometimes for themselves sometimes for their children and grand children. There are also those that see the ££££ signs and think that will come in handy for a few extra things like a cruise. Others are just desperate to pay off debts. In the end it boils down to the attraction of more money.

There are plenty of companies that deal with claims that do not need to call people up and succeed by reputation.

[Guest MattP]

What Strokes said basically, it's immoral to try and get money out of someone or something if you haven't really been affected.

Compensation culture is a horrific aspect of our country.

[Jon the Hat]

The sad thing is a lot of pensioners have been caught out. They think they can have a little extra put aside sometimes for themselves sometimes for their children and grand children. There are also those that see the ££££ signs and think that will come in handy for a few extra things like a cruise. Others are just desperate to pay off debts. In the end it boils down to the attraction of more money.

There are plenty of companies that deal with claims that do not need to call people up and succeed by reputation.

 

Greedy pensioners Ken?

[Rob1742]

What Strokes said basically, it's immoral to try and get money out of someone or something if you haven't really been affected.

Compensation culture is a horrific aspect of our country.

This

[Rincewind]

Greedy pensioners Ken?

Not me personally. Not just pensioners is it?

[Jattdogg]

Its the claims that really arent claims that help jack up insurance rates for everyone.

Of course if you were truly injured by all means followup with someone

[MPH]

Unfortunately, I think callers like this are everything thats wrong about the legal system. I don't like the fact that they were trying to convince you that You had an injury.

 

 

 

Legally, are you able to Claim? Probably.

 

 

Morally? No way.

 

 

Now if you were in hospital for several days. missed work, or are behind on some bills because of missed income, then go right ahead..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its just everything i dislike about the legal system. It reminds me a bit of the lady who managed to sucessfully sue McDonalds  because she burnt herself on the coffee- she was able to sue them because they failed to provide adequate warning that the coffee was hot.

[Jon the Hat]

Not me personally. Not just pensioners is it?

 

"The sad thing is a lot of pensioners have been caught out. They think they can have a little extra put aside sometimes for themselves sometimes for their children and grand children."

 

Its not sad if they are being greedy bastards now is it?

[MPH]

"The sad thing is a lot of pensioners have been caught out. They think they can have a little extra put aside sometimes for themselves sometimes for their children and grand children."

 

Its not sad if they are being greedy bastards now is it?

 

 

 

Poor innocent Pensioners....

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

I've had it up to here with these bastard pensioners scamming money out of decent people.

Another bizarre turn from Rincy. Everyone saying morally no don't claim if you're not injured, then Rincy saying old people get duped into it but they mean well because they are looking after their family. What about if young people commit fraud to look after a sick old relative? If you're not injured, don't claim. It puts everyone's premiums up.

[Vacamion]

Next time someone posts a new thread about "my car insurance is astronomical" (and we get about 3 a year), the person asking should be directed to this thread.

The bad news is that soft tissue neck injury is notoriously difficult to disprove and many claims get paid, albeit at low level.

The good news is that insurance companies are getting ever more sophisticated in the detection of fraudsters, and, because they now work in conjunction with IFED (Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, a part of City of London police), many, many more cases of insurance fraud end in prosecutions these days.

[ElusiveEd]

Like I said, I did have some "discomfort" for about 2 days but just shrugged it off and it went, it was nothing. But to hear this guy earlier "Convincing" me it went on for 3-4 months and that was what I HAD to tell anyone and everyone I spoke to regarding the claim.

 

 He also told me that I HAD to give the answers that "I sustained a Neck Injury, The pain came on a day or so after the accident" and "I self medicated. He told me to write down the answers. .

 

The Solicitor, the last person I spoke to, asked if I agreed to what she had said and explained, to which I confirmed with her I was, (Lying) and was I, or could I put myself, in a position to sign an Echo-sign (Electronic signature) email she would forward along with the documents. I said I was already online. (I was googling the companies involved) but I'd like to look thro the papers first. Which was fine with her.

 

 The more I lay here thinking about this the angrier I'm getting.  don't like these companies but now having first hand experience of it has brought it home. I'm actually glad I took the call now as I've seen these manipulative shits in full flow. A lesser, elderly or more vulnerable person would be taken in by the shysters. But that's what they prey on

 

 Guess I have a few more years to go before they get me. That day will be the day the only accident I'll be having is when I'm covered in my own piss

[Sir Fynwy]

If I was going to commit fraud I'd be sensible enough to keep the details of the offence off a public forum.

[ElusiveEd]

If I was going to commit fraud I'd be sensible enough to keep the details of the offence off a public forum.

 

 

Was never going to nor would I ever commit fraud.

 

My initial post was asking if these people were 100% above board because they are (trying) to convince me I have a claim. I don't think I do, I'm not going to claim, I never was. But a small part of me maybe would have done if others, with an experience of this, had said it's all normal procedure with these companies and claim if you were injured etc.

 

 I'm sure I was just looking to confirm my suspicions with others and put up on here my experience.

[ElusiveEd]

FFS

 

Whilst I was typing the above post my phone went off, didn't recognise the number 02036870203.

 

Went to WhoCallsMe.com

 

ANOTHER FVCKING COMAPNY WHO CALLS REGARDING HISTORIC CAR ACCIDENTS.

 

ARRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

[Webbo]

FFS

 

Whilst I was typing the above post my phone went off, didn't recognise the number 02036870203.

 

Went to WhoCallsMe.com

 

ANOTHER FVCKING COMAPNY WHO CALLS REGARDING HISTORIC CAR ACCIDENTS.

 

ARRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I get loads of calls about accidents I'm supposed to have had. I've not had so much as a slight bump for about 25 years, it's all bollox.

[Trav Le Bleu]

I get loads of calls about accidents I'm supposed to have had. I've not had so much as a slight bump for about 25 years, it's all bollox.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one.

I also get phone calls about double glazing that I apparently enquired about despite not owning my present abode and offers to insulate my loft which I also weirdly asked about despite not being able to get into my loft for the layers upon layers of rockwool in there.

[Vacamion]

I don't put my number in online forms unless I absolutely have to.

I started getting accident management company calls and PPI calls about 20 minutes after I registered my phone in the App for Cineworld.

Blummin Cineworld.