What the...

[MAPLEMAN]

Thought the year would take a turn for the better...dreaming:((
My friend got a bill for $4600 from R.A.C.Q on Friday...for repairs done to a 2006 Nissan 4x4
Apparently her car was involved in an accident in may 2017 whilst being driven by someone unknown to her!
However her car had been sitting in the yard for a number of years,unregistered and pretty much undriveable
She sold it to a wreckers from Caboolture in June 2017...she still has the receipt
R.A.C.Q have only quoted her rego number...no details of where the accident occurred :?
The rego plates were handed in to Qld main roads in june 2017
The name of the bloke supposably driving her vehicle was disclosed...he is in for a big surprise when the coppers come knocking on his door
How on earth could this happen?
She doesn't know this jerk from adam...and the car had NEVER been driven in years or indeed moved from its place in the yard up until it was sold
Totally upset a.t.m...MM

[old1955]

Wouldn’t get to worried just supply them with a statutory declaration along with copies of the other paperwork. In relation to the other paperwork have the copies signed by a JP as being true and correct copies of the documents that you hold.

Ross

[MAPLEMAN]

Just returned from the police station
They have a record of the Nissan having an accident in march 2017...no other vehicles were involved...and NO other reported bingle(s) for that vehicle :?
So he did bingle his car BUT 2 moths prior to the date that he reckoned my friends car wacked into him!
The police told my friend to ring R.A.C.Q immediately and ask for police report for the supposed bingle in may2017
R.A.C.Q said that no police report was filed
Interesting though her car was deemed at fault (this was stated in the letter) hence the owner was then 'liable' for damages
Not the 'fictitious' person driving the car that wasn't even there :no:...MM:doh:

[rustynail]

If the car was sitting in the yard "for a number of years," how come the plates were not handed in until June 2017? This is were it becomes difficult. Your friend knows her car was undrivable but nobody else does. The car may or may not have been involved in an accident, the car may or may not have been driven by an unknown person but as far as the other parties are concerned, they are not aware of the car's extended holiday, which, in turn, leaves your friend in a position of having to prove the car's state of being undrivable in or about May 2017.
Unfortunately, there are those out there who get by ripping off others. It well maybe that the owner of the 4x4 Nissan had seen your friends car laid up and still carrying plates in excess of the twelve months even though the vehicle was damaged to an extent of being unregisterable. Perfect candidate for a blame game. Mr Ripoff has an accident, nominates the other vehicle as being your friend's, there are no other details as Mr Ripoff has told the insurance company your friend's vehicle has done a runner.
So, the question to put to the insurance company is why is there no police incident report? One would be justified in thinking that in the case of a vehicle failing to stop and exchange details would mean the cops would be called in to investigate.
Mr Ripoff can nominate anyone he likes (or doesn't like) to be the guilty party. But to make it stick, he must have admissible evidence.
I had a similar situation some years back. My car was nominated by an insurance company as being involved in an accident. They would not take no for an answer.The Rego was mine, the make was mine and the colour was mine. One small problem - me and my car were 2000klm away at time and date. And I could prove it. End result; turned out to be a misread on the rego. Some billie goat at the accident had had a dyslexic moment and written the rego number in the wrong sequence.
Think about ways to prove your friend's car was inoperable prior to, during and after the nominated accident date. Irrefutable proof is best, if you can come up with it. Then sue the bejesus out of Mr Ripoff.
Good luck with it all.

[MAPLEMAN]

Been doing some legal searches...
In Qld the owner of a vehicle is not liable for any property damage caused by someone else driving it unless they were acting as an agent or employee
The police were suspicious that the Nissan was involved in a 'reported' accident in March 2017...but nothing in May 2017
Interesting that NO details of the supposed driver of my friends car,apart from his name,were disclosed
And given the cost of the repairs and the nature of them,i would have assumed the car would have needed to be towed
Police MUST be notified within 24hours of the accident if this was the case
So a lot of info missing
Someone is attempting to pull a swifty...MM:~

[Cal]

It’s a scam! We get them all the time, I hope she didn’t give out any personal details, ie credit card home address etc. they are a scam ring based in India. Be sure to actually call RACQ from the phone number on the web site not the one on the letter.

[MAPLEMAN]

The plates weren't handed in before june2017 because the hope was the car would at some stage be fixed...MM

[MAPLEMAN]

It’s a scam call! We get them all the time, I hope she didn’t give out any personal details, ie credit card home address etc. they are a scam ring based in India.Any more info on this scam Cal?
B.T.W correspondence was by letter with R.A.C.Q letterhead...MM:)

[Cal]

Did she contact the number on the letter or via their web site? We get phone calls on a regular basis, my partner had one just the other day, they make out that they know you have been involved in an accident when you haven’t and try to charge you for the damage you have caused to another vehicle.


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[MAPLEMAN]

She contacted the number on the website and was told that an investigations team would look into it
No doubt a scam but this one is localised I feel
Too many things don't add up and even had the copper shaking his head
What concerns me if it is legit is why R.A.C.Q haven't been thorough in their own due process of claim :?
As I said...NO chance her car was involved in any bingle and DOESN'T know the bloke that was supposably driving her vehicle
Quite spooky really...MM

[Mobyturns]

She contacted the number on the website and was told that an investigations team would look into it
No doubt a scam but this one is localised I feel
Too many things don't add up and even had the copper shaking his head
What concerns me if it is legit is why R.A.C.Q haven't been thorough in their own due process of claim :?
As I said...NO chance her car was involved in any bingle and DOESN'T know the bloke that was supposably driving her vehicle
Quite spooky really...MM

Be very cautious, only deal with "RACQ" staff after you initiate the call to the official RACQ number. We had a similar instance recently with a family members vehicle that was involved in a very minor two cars reversing in a shopping centre car park incident. Very minor damage, but some how the scammers supposedly representing a well known insurer initiated a call pursuing the family member for the cost of damage & repairs - quite a significant sum mind you. Ours was definitely a scam as the callers could not provide a legitimate claim number or any factual and verifiable details.

It is a known scam where the cold-caller wants to speak with 'the person involved in the car accident' and then attempts to glean sufficient info from a series of leading questions and prompts to promote the scam.

[MAPLEMAN]

The only details of the Nissan owner is their surname...no christian name given which I found strange
Their address wasn't revealed either and no police report
No address for the chap supposably driving my friends car either
The bill breakdown interesting too...$13 plus dollars for one nut!...x 4 =$52...MM:no:

[Chris Parks]

I had a call from someone saying one of our vehicles had been involved in an accident and it he was very surprised when I told him that it was more than possible because he had rung the fleet admin office of the police dept and accidents happen all the time and could he please supply all the particulars. The conversation ended there and he hung up. I have had zero calls since I did this on two occasions the last must be nearly 12 months ago now.

[DavidG]

Similar call. Wanted info about the accident I had been in. Asked if anyone hurt and I said that I was killed. He continued with the script....:rotfl:

[MAPLEMAN]

After talking with R.A.C.Q yesterday it seems the claim is legitimate :?
So I ask the question how could this be so?
I think this is more sinister than a simple typo error on R.A.C.Q's behalf
Way too much detail missing and the fact that the owner of the Nissan had a bingle in march (reported to police) but no report of a bingle in may!
$4600 supposed damage to his car because of the bingle in may 2017...doesn't make sense that this incident wasn't reported,if indeed it happened at all
I get the feeling the owner of the Nissan was at fault in the accident in march 2017 and has fictitiously made up a story that he had a bingle in may 2017 to get the car fixed without paying
As I said,my friends car was certainly not driven for a number of years (no battery and other issues) and certainly wasn't stolen or lent to anyone to use...least not to someone unknown :no:
And if my friends car was in a bingle it would have sustained quite a bit of damage one would have assumed
The business that purchased her car will verify it was not driveable and had no damage consistent with a collision with another vehicle...MM:)

[Bohdan]

My answer to these people would be "I await your summons, see you in court" and invariably you never hear from them again.

[MAPLEMAN]

Finally a result :o
Rang R.A.C.Q again today and spoke to a chap in recoveries department
He conceded that the car that ploughed into the Nissan was in fact a Isuzu :doh:...NOT a Holden commodore (my friends car)
And that someone in the office clearly didn't follow the claim with due diligence...hence the error :(
Most apologetic too :rolleyes:
I asked him for a confirmation via e-mail
Not only 'the scammers' you gotta worry about these days
Sure glad that's over :wink:...MM:)

[rustynail]

Told Ya. Pretty much the same as my story. Burning question here is, what would have happened to the money if you or your friend had come good with the four grand? Me thinks there may be some skulduggery going on in the RACQ. Maybe it was a little MORE than due diligence by the unidentified transgressor in the RACQ. I love the way government employees can become anonymous in a flash when required. I guess its one of the consequences of living in a one horse town like Queensland:;

[MAPLEMAN]

, what would have happened to the money if you or your friend had come good with the four grand? :;My thoughts too Rusty...where would the money have gone? The letter was a bit heavy handed which proves they were pretty serious in recovering their money.How they could mistake a Isuzu for a Holden is beyond comprehension...MM

[artme]

Told Ya. Pretty much the same as my story. Burning question here is, what would have happened to the money if you or your friend had come good with the four grand? Me thinks there may be some skulduggery going on in the RACQ. Maybe it was a little MORE than due diligence by the unidentified transgressor in the RACQ. I love the way government employees can become anonymous in a flash when required. I guess its one of the consequences of living in a one horse town like Queensland:;


Hang on!. RACQ has nothing to do with government. How do you manage to drag government employees into this??

[artme]

We have had several calls from scammers regarding suppose involvement in crashes.
When pressed for all sorts of details they usually hang up.

[BobL]

It's no excuse but I can see this happening as easy as pie and I often wonder why it doesn't happens more often.

Some bored or distracted data entry operator is asked to enter or remove MV rego numbers into a system from paper based forms, instead of 1ABC 325 they type 1ABC 235 and this pops up your friends rego or in your case not your friends rego. They are probably required to cross check other reposted vehicle attributes ( eg make and model) but they don't . . . . . .

[rustynail]

Hang on!. RACQ has nothing to do with government. How do you manage to drag government employees into this??
Quite aware of that. I think in a lot of cases government doesnt have too much to do with government either. It has become a typical scenario in all levels of public service; you never can find that exact person who did the deed or made the decision. You are flat out getting a name. It is now coming into private enterprise, particularly public service type operations.