Letter of Demand for car accident

[AdviceSeeker]

Hi,

I received a letter of demand from "Lumley Insurance" for a vehicle damaged as a result of an accident caused by me. This is 100% false, because I was in a hopsital for my ear operation on the day of the accident. I called my car insurance AAMI to report this matter, and they said that I have to pay an excess around $550 for the investigation. If they find that I was not involved in a car accident, then they would give me the money back. I also went to the police station to report this matter, and the police officer cannot find a report made for the car accident. My aunt said that she saw the victim came over to our neighbour house (I live in a flat with 4 units) in regards to the car accident. I think the offender have purposely gave him my car registration number to the victim, because his car was not insured. My car is insured under third party. Should my aunt be the witness of this incident? Should I take a photo of his car? Should I park my car in the garage in case he damaged by car? Any advice is appreciated.

[luckyone]

Can't you just get a letter from the hospital that you were in saying that you were in hospital that day and the times that you were there? You could then take it to the police or Lumley Insurance and hopefully avoid going through your insurance and paying the excess.

[Ace in the Hole]

If it were me, I wouldn't want to be wasting my own time on this issue.

The easiest option is to pay the $550, fully refundable fee to your insurance co. AAMI, so they can represent you and do all the investigations.

Someone may be getting in trouble here for giving false information, and your insurance company will probably do a good job at sorting it out for you.

[Lil Skater]

If the $550 is refundable and you obviously weren't involved why don't you let AAMi deal with it and lose $550 for a few weeks?

[battler]

Originally Posted by AdviceSeeker

If they find that I was not involved in a car accident

Does your car have any damage from this alleged accident?

[Strannik]

why don't you just reply to them and tell them where to stick their letter?

[jezza]

Originally Posted by Lil Skater

If the $550 is refundable and you obviously weren't involved why don't you let AAMi deal with it and lose $550 for a few weeks?

Lil

Some insurance companies register this as a claim, even though you were not at fault ( and in this instance not involved) it still goes on the record and can affect your future insurance years costs/premiums. That question of "Have you made a claim in the last 5 years". In this instance you would have to answer yes and that immediatley jacks the price up. There is really only 2 main insurance companies in Australia, most of them are brokers that fall under the main 2

Jezza

[AdviceSeeker]

Hi All!

Thank you all for the prompt and helpful advice. I went to the police station, and the police office said to let my AAMI Insurance Company to deal with the problem. I have already called AAMI, so they care taking care of this, but Jezza said that it could affect my future insurance cost/premium. Maybe, I should give AAMI a call today to see what they say about it. Also get a letter from my hospital to the police station to see what they will say about it. "Ace in the Hole", what happen to someone giving the wrong information, is there a law against this, and if both the offender and the victim should pay some sort of fine for giving wrong information? It is strange to me, that the offender know where the victim live, but do not know which car hit his car? I parked my car in the garage to avoid any damage that might have cause in the future, and as an evidence if an investigation is to go ahead. The more evidence you can provide the better right? How about having my aunt as the witness in this matter, because she saw the victim coming over to my neighbour's house in regards to this incident? I was thinking of letting a solicitor to handle this problem, but this would cost me, but I don't know how much. My aunt said if I find a good solicitor he/she can fine the victim/offender for making wrong claim against other person not involved in the incident. Is that correct?

"battler", my car was not involved in this incident, and the location of incident was in Moorabbin (I live in Melbourne, Australia). So there is no damage to my car. It is lucky that no one try to smash my car after the incident happened.

"Strannik" they have my car registration number, therefore, they know my address and my name including other information about me, and my car.

Jezza, what do you mean by 2 main insurance companies and what does brokers do?

Anyway, thanks for all you help. I really appreciate it.

Kind Regards,
AdviceSeeker

[WinstonWolfe]

Personally, I would write to Lumley Insurance saying they have been misinformed, possibly by a spiteful or guilty neighbor, and they should re-check the source of their information and that your car has not been involved in an accident. There's no need to say anything about hospital or where you were on the day.

You might follow up with a phone call to reinforce the point, but only do it if you can communicate clearly, calmly and rationally.

I'd be reticent to let your insurance company advocate for you. When younger, I did the same and never saw the money again.

You won't save any time having them do it. They will ask you to fill in a lengthy report on your version and send it to them.

[vincenzo]

A simple phone call or an email to Lumley would be good way to immediately inform them you weren't involved, and that you have witnesses to prove your whereabouts at the time of the incident.
If they request for this in writing, then you can do that too, but at least you have immediately notified them and you know exactly what to include in the letter.

As posted just above, I wouldn't bother making basically the same phone call and writing the same information in the forms of your own insurance company, plus having to hand them over $550 Possibly never to see it again! All because of a false accusation?

[skater]

This is all very strange. IF there was an accident, they you usually take details of the other party at the time. Rego, name, address, contact no, etc. If they had the address, how on earth did they NOT have the rego number? Sounds fishy to me.

[Lil Skater]

You're right Jezza, never actually thought about it as a claim.

[marg4000]

I recommend you write back to Lumleys stating that your car was not involved in an accident and you have evidence you were in hospital at the time they say the accident happened and your car was garaged. Yes, an old fashioned letter is the best option as you want this to get to the right person, not a call centre.

Once you lodge a claim on your insurance company your no claim bonus is at risk and would not be the first step in this instance. Further down the track it may be the cheapest way to sort things out if necessary.
Marg

[Strannik]

Originally Posted by AdviceSeeker

"Strannik" they have my car registration number, therefore, they know my address and my name including other information about me, and my car.

Sure but what is it going to give them?

Unless your car is exactly same as your neighbor's car, a brief look at the accident particulars or a face to face talk to the victim would uncover that you aren't the one responsible.

in fact they only need to look at the rego details to realise that your car is not the one that was involved in an accident, as it would be different color/model/year etc

[bene313]

I'd also write a letter to Lumley.

Then I'd write to AAMI for for a role in their next commercial singing "what about me" and your specific situation.