Wierd

[Tempi]

We got a letter in the post from SEIB the other day regarding an 'incident' in our old lorry that took place on 4th May 2005.

Apparently we were in Moseley Village (dont even know where that is, but have found out theres one near birmingham/wolverhampton) and something happened with another road user. Apparently details were exchanged at the scene.

Now when we originaly got a letter saying this about 2 months ago mum phoned up and said she had no idea what it was about and could they forward more details, which theyve now just done. We've got the name of the guy 'claiming' against us, but they wont tell us what its for, or what was meant to have happened. I was at work that day and so was my mum, and the lorry was parked at our yard.

We totally dont know what to do as this guy is claiming we've had an accident with him and we havent. SEIB dont believe what we are saying, and we've no way at all to prove anything, obviously we've got work rotas saying we were both at work, and my YO can say lorry was at yard, but thats not enough apparently.

Whats peoples views on this? My first thoughts were that its someone trying to scam some money, but hes got all our details - name, address, reg number, as 'details were exchanged at the scene'..............HELP!!

 

[druid]

There's no way someone borrowed the truck without asking you?

 

[Jo C]

I really don't know what to say - very very odd? As Druid said has anyone 'borrowed' the lorry?
You really aren't having a very good time with lorries at the moment what with the tyre problems as well are you? Hope you get it all sorted though!

 

[the watcher]

two views, either somebody has 'cloned' your lorry and put identical plates on a similar vehicle, then crashed it, however it would be unusual for them to know all your personal details. Has your lorry ever been broken in to? or your house? do you dispose of all paperwork carefully?

secondly nothing actually happened and this person has got your number plate and applied to DVLA for the registered keeper details as he is entitled to do and is bluffing a claim.

there is a third choice, that somebody has 'borrowed' your lorry from the yard..is that a possibility?

you could counter by making a complaint to your local Police of an attempt to obtain money by deception and hand it over to them

 

[icestationzebra]

How come he is only claiming now? Over a year after the 'supposed' event.. I would contact your local police for some advice.

 

[luckygirl]

Sounds like you need to get legal advice on this one. Perhaps start with Citizens advice or chat to local solicitor.

There are many ways to get hold of personal details these days. If you are sure it wasn't you I would make every effort to get it sorted ASAP.

 

[Ferdinase514]

Surely they have to prove it was you, baring in mind your and your mother's employers could both show that you were at work.

Contact the Police perhaps, if you suspect something is going on.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

My god, that is strange!!

TBH I would be inclined to agree with the Watcher's thought that this person has got your number plate, applied to the DVLA (and anyone can do that) and is making a false claim. It could be a criminal gang.
I would go to the police and to my solicitor. there is no way they can make you pay if you weren't there!!!
The insurance company could have been a bit more helpful, so i would contact their head office and see if they're any more forthcoming....

 

[Parkranger]

I'm inclined to believe the cloning theory.

Bear in mind that 6 months after the incident it is for him to prove that you had an accident with him. Within 6 months it's for you to prove your innocence.

I'd put in a phonecall to them and find out what the hell's going on - if you explain that you really don't have a clue what's going on and you need more info.

Can you prove your whereabouts on the day?

 

[Tempi]

thanx for everyones replies!!

lorry was definately not borrowed, and definately never went to moseley - noone has ever borrowed our lorry!!

All personal information gets shreaded at my mums work as shes paranoid about that sort of thing!!

I just dont understand how hes got our details, and if he lives so far away how hes got our number plate? another thought was that he got a letter/number wrong on the plate - but then how can details have bene exchanged at the scene and our name given?? We dont even have this lorry anymore!! And considering this is over a year old, its just really baffling me!

SEIB are not being at all helpful, they wont give us any information about anything, and are saying that if we dont 'remember' the incident, we have to put down in writing where we were at the time, and that we know nothing about it. We've done this, and they still wont believe us.........

As for the tyre thing on our new lorry - the rescue place that fitted the dodgy tyre apparently took it off an old ford eveco lorry they had standing in their yard and tried to strip it and re-tread it, ths didnt work and they just gave it to us half stripped..........it really just gets worse dosent it!!

 

[ExRacers]

Just a thought but could it be that the new owners have never transferred your old lorry into their own name & when they had the accident just gave out your details knowing that they would not be able to be traced ? There would need to be be an error regarding the date of the incident as well - but anything is possible!!?? I would be asking for the name of the third party insurers and contacting them yourself and asking them to give you full details if your own insurers won't do it. But frankly your own insurers should be repudiating any claim on your behalf meantime as the onus is on the third party to prove their claim! Good luck!

 

[Tempi]

no - we owned the lorry at the time, had done for over a year. We only got our new lorry at the end of april 2006.

 

[Sparklet]

You do wonder if someone has put fake plates on a stolen lorry. You background details may have been obtained in case they were stopped.

 

[Tempi]

this is what im thinking.........its just really puzzling and i cant wait to get to the bottom of it all!! unfortunately im no detective so probably wont ever know the whole story!

 

[emma69]

See if your insurance at the time covered legal fees - and then if it did hand it over for them to deal with. It's possible to get name and adress info from the licence plate (not heard of fake accidents, but have heard of fake parking ticket demands) so get some legal advice, and get evidence from your employers of the fact you were at work - it's not as if you can get to Moseley and back in a lunch hour. Also ask about witnesses - Moseley Village is anything but a village, it is a few miles from central birmingham, and the chances of someone not witnessing it is remote - the high street is always full of pedestrians, and tons of other cars.

 

[_jetset_]

You must get a solicitor's advice on this one... I bumped into a man who actually cut across my right of way where we used to live and he tried to do me for injury! I immediately spoke to my solicitor and he advised me to draw a diagram and get the witness to sign it once he agreed it.

The man was claiming I had caused him to injure his shoulder, arm, leg and head! The dent was minute and I only literally bumped into him because he came flying around a corner and did not stop at his junction!

Grrr.. just glad he never got away with trying to get money out of my insurance company!

 

[samerlin]

someone may have got your number plate or just pot luck on making it up and got intouch with their insurance company they can then trace your details including your insurance company since most of the insurance companies now can check with each other on the internet. this happened to me and the first I knew about the accident was when my insurance company wrote to me saying that they were sorry to hear about my accident and that the other party was making a claim. I wrote to them denying the fact that I was in the area and after a few more correspondences it seems to have died a natural death.

keep denying it and forward copies of any proof that you weren't in the area.

good luck

 

[horsegirl]

Juat out of interest what Day of the week is he claiming this happened?