Accident Advice Helpline

[wiltsman]

Not certain whether this question should be in Motoring or Law.

I had what I think is known as a no-fault accident last September. I was driving through a few inches of flood water, when suddenly a surge of water caught me out. My engine was wrecked, but my insurance company handled everything and got me back on the road. The only cost to me was the £300.00 excess I agreed to when I took the insurance out, whereas the cost of the repairs were around £3000.

Luckily, neither myself or my passenger, who was named as a driver on my policy, were injured in any way.

Now, this morning, out of the blue, 10 months later, I had a call from the Accident Advice Helpline. The gentleman who contacted me said they were set up by the Government, and I was entitled to compensation from some form of set aside funds. I tried to get some more details from him but he seemed unsure about many things and would hand me over to a manager, saying he had only been with the company since Monday! I declined, after taking his phone number saying, I might ring back.

Can anyone tell me how did they get my accident details, and why would they contact me? Is there any genuine reason why I should get involved with them?

[bednobs]

they are just trying it on - they don'r know you had an accident, they just blanket ring people in the hope you have, and are due some compo. You wont be

[wolf63]

Did the guy who called actually refer to your accident?

If not it sounds like they were just cold calling and it had nothing to do with your accident. I would just ignore them

[Traci66]

You're lucky it's taken them this long, my daughter was involved in an accident in February, foreign lorry driver moved into the outside lane where she was, squashing her car up against the central reservation. Neither her or her partner were injured in any way, we now receive up to five calls a day to the landline and she receives a similar amount to her mobile saying she is entitled to compensation and all this millions of pounds have been set aside for people like her. She has told them she is not interested in lying in order to receive compensation that she feels she is not entitled to as she wasn't injured. At times, to try and stop the calls she has been quite rude to them, but do they stop, no, they don't. As to your questions, I don't know the answers, but good luck anyway.

[wiltsman]

When I think back, no specific accident was referred to, only about the accident I had in the past two years.

It's OK - I don't think I'll be making anymore contact with them.

[bhg481]

Bednobs is right.
The last accident I had was in 1988 and we get calls referring to "a recent accident". Since we know they haven't a clue about any accidents we've had we wind them up asking which accident it was and enjoy making them try to tell us.

[TWR]

Scam, put the phone down, these dregs are like blood suckers Wiltsman.

[Barmaid]

No. It's a try one. I have SUCH fun with them. I can waste their time for ages.

Ignore them (unless you feel inclined to "play").

[wiltsman]

Thank you all for your comments. I think you are all of the same opinion - stay clear of these people!

[joko]

they would only be interested if your 'accident' involved someone else - ie, someone to blame... your situation is more of an unfortunate incident rather than an RTA in the usual sense of the term.