A call off of AdviceLine/Guide (Insurancey stuff)

[Yew]

Hi All,

I'm asking for some advice. Recently I ave just got a call off a company calling themselves AdviceLine or Advice guide. It was saying about 'you are owed £xxxx for a recent motor accident you had' and Obviously my first thought was that it was a cold calling scam of some sort. However I strung them along for a bit as I had nothing better to do, and eventually the lady on the phone came out with 'Was the car involved a ford fiesta?' Which it was.

Now obviously they might have bought these details from whoever the insurer was (I wasnt driving at the time, but a passenger in the car) And they said something about 'Since you where under 18, some money was put in an account until you are 21 (which I almost am)' Furthermore It appears there is a Branch of the citizens advice Bureau that use the name AdviceGuide. (However i'm not entirely sure thats what she said)


I Got off the phone by saying something like 'I need to ask my parents about it.' So I'm wondering if anyone knows if this is a scam? or something genuine? Do I need to interrogate them when they call back to be able to determine this fully?


I didnt give any bank details out.

Thanks, Yew

 

[swj99]

And they said something about 'Since you where under 18, some money was put in an account until you are 21

Not sure about this. The bit about money being put into an account has a ring of truth to it, but in the UK, it's usually 18, not 21. I've only some vague, after the event involvement with one resembling this, and the brief details are that a family was involved in a non fault accident with a 3rd party, whose insurers disputed the amount of personal injury damages claimed. The family's insurer instructed a solicitor to issue county court proceedings on behalf of the mother, father and two kids in the car when it happened. Judgment was made in favour of the family. The mother and father, who of course were over 18, were paid out at the time.
The money for the children was placed in some kind of investment scheme, administered at the time by the county court, although that system has I believe been changed since then.

Fast forward a few years until the first of their children reached 18, and hence became entitled to her compensation, plus the interest or profits earned on it. Brief hearing in front of a district judge confirms that she is entitled to her money, and a few weeks later, a cheque arrives. Money is spent within a few months on a business venture.
When the son, who is slightly younger, reaches 18, he too applies to the court for his compensation, only to receive a letter informing him that due to a mistake in the court office, the compensation money, including his share, has already been paid to his sister. The letter suggested that he should ask his sister for his share of the money. I had no involvement after a couple of letters which were sent to the court on behalf of the brother and sister, so I lost track of whatever happened after that.

Were you injured in the accident ?
At the time of the accident, did a solicitor act for anyone else in the same car as you ? Was the accident subject to a county court case or judgment. If so, that solicitor, or the insurance company the firm was acting for, may be able to give you further details of any money owed to you, if there is any.

 

[Yew]

Not sure about this. The bit about money being put into an account has a ring of truth to it, but in the UK, it's usually 18, not 21.

Were you injured in the accident ?
At the time of the accident, did a solicitor act for anyone else in the same car as you ? If so, that solicitor may be able to give you further details of any money owed to you, if there is any.

I have no idea about solicitors I was 12-14 at the time. Next time I will ask if they are Advice line, or adviceguide, (maybe ask for a company number too? and maybe things like their registered office? And then pretty much tell them to send me a cheque, or stop calling me.

 

[swj99]

I have no idea about solicitors I was 12-14 at the time. Next time I will ask if they are Advice line, or adviceguide, (maybe ask for a company number too? and maybe things like their registered office? And then pretty much tell them to send me a cheque, or stop calling me.

Please note, I've added to my 1st post, possibly while you were replying to it.

You may be able to find out more by sending a subject access request to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange. (costs a tenner)

http://www.insurancedatabases.co.uk/default.aspx

 

[michael769]

This sounds like a ambulance chaser aka no win no fee claims management.

They buy lists of folks who have reported being in an accident from comparison sites and insurers and then cold call the 'victims' to offer to get them compensation. Their MO is to convince you they have a 100% chance of getting you a lot of cash, but in reality most people get nothing but dissapointment after being strung along a bit. What they are after is the tiny minority who do have a decent claim for a largish sum.

The less ehtical end of this business will ask you to buy insurance to cover their fees of they lose. Obviously most folks who pay up lose that when they fail to win a claim.

At the time they call they have no idea if your case is worth pursing it really is just a fishing exercise, that ends up inflating insurance premiums for everyone.

You can only recover money if suffered a actual provable financial loss or actual provable injury, the person you claim against has to be negligent.

The CAB do not cold call. If your parents had won a claim they would be aware of it and their solicitors would have asked them to get you to contact them.

 

[MetroDriver]

So from what you're saying.... you were 12-14 at the time of 'your accident', and now almost 21? That's one hell of a gap in time for anyone to be calling you up out of the blue? Sounds a bit iffy - if it was genuine and they had your details they would be able to drop you a letter in the post. Phone call only sounds like the usual waste-of-time cold calling, but I'm happy to be proved wrong obviously.

 

[Yew]

Thanks guys, I'll ask my parents if they did claim for anything/get any money. However looking back on the calls (there where two), they didnt seem to know that I was under 18 at the start of the phone call, and I'm not sure if they said 'Ford' or 'Ford Fiesta' |The first one has a high percentage of being a lucky guess.

Supposedly the money was put in a High interest ISA until I was 18, and now I approach 21 it will revert to the insurers if a claim is not put in.

My line of thought is 'dont hand over details or money, get a clear indication of which 'company' they are from and then if it is the CAB ring the number on their webiste and ask for confirmation. I'll report back herein the (pretty likely) scenario its a scam, as someone could be googling about it, and possibly save them from falling a victim.

 

[ryan125hst]

I'm not sure if they said 'Ford' or 'Ford Fiesta' |The first one has a high percentage of being a lucky guess.

The Ford Fiesta is the best selling car in the UK (as you can see here) and it was the Ford Focus before that, so they have the best chance of being correct by saying Ford.

I don't know what company it was from, but my Mum answered the phone the other week and it was one of this "you've had a car accident" scams. We know it was a scam because we haven't had a car accident!

 

[michael769]

The more I read this the more it feels like a social engineering attack to convince you to provide bank and other peronal details. There are variants known as persistent attacks that involve multiple seemingly innocuous calls (a type of Grooming if you will) to build your trust before they eventually get to the punchline and ask for money or personally identifiable informations.

As others say the Ford or Ford Fiesta thing may just be down to cold reading

I would be inclined to contact your local Tradings Standards Officer for assistance.

 

[CatfordCat]

Yes. 'adviceguide' is the name of the website maintained by CAB. I am not involved with CAB, but I am almost certain they would not do any sort of cold calling like this. There are some organisations that use words like 'advice' or 'help' or 'agency' in their name, and try to hint they are in some way a charity or government / council department, but they aren't.

I occasionally get text messages about compensation I'm due in respect of my motor accident. Since in my 20 years driving, I've had 2 motor accidents in both cases where people drove into me at speeds so low as not to make any dent let alone cause any injury, I didn't take a lot of notice of them.

There is a time limit for making a claim for compensation following any motor accident, but I can't find an authoritative reference as to what this is (I don't count posts on web forums as authoritative!) There are some situations where I believe you can lodge a claim, but it's a while before it's settled in full, in order to see what the long term health effects are on an injured person.

Were you actually injured in the accident? To have a claim, you need to have suffered some sort of loss or injury, and that claim generally needs to be against the (insurer of) the person whose negligence caused the accident (or if that person was acting on an employer's behalf, their employer - e.g. if you were hit by a bus, your claim would be against the bus company not the bus driver.)

I would agree about discussing this with your parents - did they make a claim at the time? (It's unclear from what you've said whether your involvement was as a passenger in your parents' car - in which case they would have handled the insurance aspects of it, or whether you were a pedestrian or a passenger in another vehicle at the time - if the either of the latter, then it would have been up to your parents to make any compensation claim on your behalf.)

I would be very surprised if they had made a claim and just let things slide for (if I understand right) 7 or so years. I would also have thought they would know if any award had been made to you / to them in respect of your injury (I'm not quite sure if compensation can be paid direct to a minor.)

The 'held in trust' sort of thing puzzles me more - I've heard of something like it happening if for example a child has been so badly injured they need a fund setting aside for lifetime care, to make sure the parents don't spend the entire compensation straight away, but it doesn't sound like that applies in your case.)

And I'm not sure that anyone can set up an ISA for someone else.

Did this firm leave you with any contact details? (If not, that makes me more suspicious)

And if they do get in touch again, if at any stage they ask you for money, then it's definitely a scam. It's also a general rule that the more any organisation tries to rush you into action (e.g. telling you that you must act NOW or you will lose out / have an account suspended etc) then the more likely it is to be a scam.

While it would be nice if there is an unexpected cash windfall as part of this, I think the best you can aim for is not to lose anything as a result!

 

[richw]

The law provides that there are certain time limits within which a claim must be brought if it is to be allowed to proceed.

The basic rule is that a claim for personal injury must be brought within three years of the date upon which the injury was sustained. Different rules apply for children, clients lacking mental capacity, criminal injury compensation claims, accidents on aeroplanes and boats or outside of England and Wales.

The law requires the injured person to commence Court proceedings within this three year period and not just consult a Solicitor with a view to investigating a claim.

Where the injured person is a child, the three year limitation period does not begin to run until he or she reaches his or her 18th birthday. So, in effect, a child has until its 21st birthday to bring a claim.

Where the injured person has suffered a brain injury as a result of his or her medical treatment or where he or she suffered from learning difficulties prior to the medical treatment and, in either case, the injured person does not have the mental capacity to understand the legal process and manage his or her own affairs, there is no limit upon the time for bringing a claim.

If an adult or a child dies as a result of their accident, their personal representatives or dependants may bring a claim within three years of the date of their death.

Even if the limitation period has expired, the Court has the ability to exercise its discretion to allow a claim to proceed if it considers it is just to do so.

It is always best to investigate a claim as soon as possible after you have been in an accident. The circumstances are fresh in everyones mind and the sooner you seek legal advice, the sooner we can begin to help and secure financial assistance.

If your accident was more than three years ago, the Court can excercise discretion but you are advised to seek legal advice straight away
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
the above post was copy and pasted from a personal injury claim companies website