Geoff calls me to ask if I can help him with protection for a large amount of jewellery he has just bought his wife and we always help our business insurance customers when they need help with their personal asset protection. While working out the particulars Geoff asks me if I have time to hear a short, but interesting story. Geoff is an entertaining guy, and I’m always happy to hear what’s been going on in his world. He starts regaling me with a tale from a friend of his, who had been at home when he heard a loud bang, and his wife started shouting for him. He sped downstairs and was confronted with the sight of his front garden wall – newly decorated with a BMW.
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Who Done It?
A lady who looked physically shaken, was standing in his front garden, saying “a guy crashed his car into mine, knocked me into your wall and then disappeared.” Over a cup of tea she explained how she had been driving down the road, when she had been shunted from behind, left the road, hit the curb, and landed on top of his wall, rather than driving through it. There was no real evidence of damage to her vehicle, so it looked plausible.
The police were called and statements were taken. The lady drove off, regrettably she didn’t know the identity of the perpetrator who had crashed into her. She didn’t know the make of the car or the registration number, because it had happened so quickly.
She did it!
Some time later a neighbour stopped by to ask what was happening with the demolished wall was told the tale of the lady being shunted into the curb and over the wall. At this point his neighbour informed him that his CCTV told a completely different story.
As Geoff’s friend watched the CCTV footage, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The lady’s BMW was spotted travelling down the opposite side of the road that she’d said, and suddenly left the road as her head disappeared from view behind the windscreen. Her car then clipped the curb and demolished his wall.
Fraud, lies and videotape
He could not believe what a performance this lady had put on, both for himself, his wife, and also for the police. He was incandescent by the time he had reached the end of the video footage, asked for a copy, stormed down the police station, demanded that the lady be arrested for fraud. Regrettably nobody had kept her details. Fortunately the CCTV recording had the registration plate number. The police are unlikely to investigate the lady for fraud, as they feel the insurance company would deal with the claim. Yet it is an offence to damage property whilst driving and not report it to the Police – check the highway code.
Is this gentleman incandescent enough to launch a private prosecution – probably not! Has he learned his lesson that what is often perceived may not be the case – yet this is what typically happens when anything goes wrong. I told my friends about this scenario and we all agreed it’s rare for people to take responsibility when things go wrong, sometimes because of the financial penalty. Most people don’t plumb the depths this lady did yet they do think their insurance premium will go up if they make a claim – which is untrue because not all insurances have a “no claim bonus”.
Wrap up: A lot of businesses relationships with their suppliers go sour when it’s found they don’t provide the service they said they would and use their T&C’s to avoid paying a penalty. Let’s face it, some suppliers best performance is in the tender process.
Top Tip
Follow me on Twitter to be the first to hear real evidence of the Police crackdown on whiplash claims. It will happen because the Government has realised that it’s caught up in insurance company unwillingness to drive change. This happened in the 1990’s when the Police were swamped with claims for car stereos. The Government forced car manufacturers to improve security.
Share this: With anyone who complains about their insurance premium increasing. If it’s car insurance they’re complaining about, we don’t do it because it’s such a mess thanks to direct insurers and their unwillingness to detect fraud. Yet we do have this nifty tool that helps everyone reduce their premium.
