Has anyone else experienced these insurance scam type things? (or at least that`s what I assume it was intended to be)
Today I left my car in Sainsburys car park , only to find , on my return, that there was no way I could easily open the door on either side of the car. Carefully opening the driver`s door so that it didn`t do any damage to my own or the car next to me, I began to squeeze through the gap to get in . No sooner had I opened the door than a chap leapt out of the back of the van next to me shouting and cursing about my having "slammed " my car door against his van. I was about to say that he could have parked a bit further away as he had loads of space on the other side,(and was way over into my "bay" anyway) but he was threatening all sorts of dire things. legal action etc., etc .
Fortunately, one of the guys washing cars heard and came over - gave the van-man a real talking to and he eventually backed off. Left me a bit shaken though, and I half expected to see him following me all the way home.
Not a very nice experience - perhaps I should have reported it to Sainsburys with his reg. no. , but I just wanted to get away.
Driving "scams"
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Mrs C.
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Driving "scams"
The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.
from my experience of working for retail companies, there is not much the can or will do.
I would of notified the police, what your suspicions are. If you have a spare 5 minutes it might popping down to your local station or ringing them (not 999, not implying you are dumb, just reckon somone on here will make a funny comment). This might of happened to someone before.
I have heard of this sort of thing happening, the person who got out of their car, has probably hit someone and doesn't want their own insurance premiums to go up, so instead wants to claim on your insurance.
completely understandable that you are shaken up, hope you are feeling better now?
Was it in the horsham / Crawley sainsbury's? As i have heard of this happening before in horsham. (having worked in both, neither store will do anything about the car.)
I would of notified the police, what your suspicions are. If you have a spare 5 minutes it might popping down to your local station or ringing them (not 999, not implying you are dumb, just reckon somone on here will make a funny comment). This might of happened to someone before.
I have heard of this sort of thing happening, the person who got out of their car, has probably hit someone and doesn't want their own insurance premiums to go up, so instead wants to claim on your insurance.
completely understandable that you are shaken up, hope you are feeling better now?
Was it in the horsham / Crawley sainsbury's? As i have heard of this happening before in horsham. (having worked in both, neither store will do anything about the car.)
If it takes 87 muscles to frown, if i frown throughout the day, can that count towards my daily work out?
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Mrs C.
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It was in Horsham.
I`m fine now thanks, but it was a bit of an anxious drive back, having had to stop for petrol too - kept expecting van-man to come up behind me.
I didn`t really get a look at the van so I don`t know if it was scratched or anything already. I DO that I know that I didn`t do any damage to it!
I`m not sure how much good it`d do going to the police either - all I know was that it was a small white van! Couldn`t describe the guy either, I was so shocked by it.
I`m fine now thanks, but it was a bit of an anxious drive back, having had to stop for petrol too - kept expecting van-man to come up behind me.
I didn`t really get a look at the van so I don`t know if it was scratched or anything already. I DO that I know that I didn`t do any damage to it!
I`m not sure how much good it`d do going to the police either - all I know was that it was a small white van! Couldn`t describe the guy either, I was so shocked by it.
The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.
Last year a scrupulously polite and honest friend of mine was summoned to court and ordered to pay £00's in damages to a loud and aggressive woman he'd never seen in his life. She swore blind in court that he'd bashed into her car on some London back road, yet he was quite sure he'd never even driven where she said he'd been, let alone hit anything.
Justice really was blind on that occasion: it came down to her word against his, and she won. Annoyingly, her loud and assertive behaviour (which was anathema to my mild-mannered friend) effectively scored points with the judge.
The most plausible explanation is that her car had been damaged either in her absence, or by someone uninsured, and she randomly selected a nearby victim (she lived close by) to stitch up. I imagine this is reasonably common.
I sincerely hope this doesn't happen to you, Mrs C, but it's possible he took your number and has already reported the "incident" to his insurers.
Justice really was blind on that occasion: it came down to her word against his, and she won. Annoyingly, her loud and assertive behaviour (which was anathema to my mild-mannered friend) effectively scored points with the judge.
The most plausible explanation is that her car had been damaged either in her absence, or by someone uninsured, and she randomly selected a nearby victim (she lived close by) to stitch up. I imagine this is reasonably common.
I sincerely hope this doesn't happen to you, Mrs C, but it's possible he took your number and has already reported the "incident" to his insurers.
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marty
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Well JR used to be a policeman so I think he should comment on this.
If I were you I'd contact Sainsbury's immediately and ask them for a copy of their CCTV. If you could get the van's number plate then you could pass that on and the police could investigate if you feel the owner is acting fraudulently....
If I were you I'd contact Sainsbury's immediately and ask them for a copy of their CCTV. If you could get the van's number plate then you could pass that on and the police could investigate if you feel the owner is acting fraudulently....
My therapist says I have a preoccupation with vengeance. We’ll see about that.
Sorry Mrs C., but forewarned is forearmed etc. On the bright side, it is way more likely to have been some random loudmouth who really did think you'd damaged his precious van, but just in case it's *not* it seemed better to recount what *might* be going on.
To clarify one thing in my post above - I spoke to my friend today - he didn't pay the costs directly, his insurer did. But his premiums rose by about £1000 shortly afterwards, so it had a very real financial impact
To clarify one thing in my post above - I spoke to my friend today - he didn't pay the costs directly, his insurer did. But his premiums rose by about £1000 shortly afterwards, so it had a very real financial impact
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Angela Woodford
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Mrs C is Innocent
How awful for you Mrs C. You must have felt completely shocked!
But the positions of the car and van and the rantings of your accuser and the care with which you opened your door will show on the CCTV if necessary and exonerate you. The Car Washer will be a witness for you.
What do you reckon JR?
With every sympathy, Munch
But the positions of the car and van and the rantings of your accuser and the care with which you opened your door will show on the CCTV if necessary and exonerate you. The Car Washer will be a witness for you.
What do you reckon JR?
With every sympathy, Munch
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Mrs C.
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Isn`t it funny how after something like this you think of all the things you could have done - I could have taken a photo with my phone, got name and address of a witness etc, etc - but all I could think of was getting as far away as possible from the mad van-man! Perhaps if he`d not been quite so threatening I would have been more with it!
I shall be more alert in that car park in future though!!
I shall be more alert in that car park in future though!!
The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.
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sejintenej
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Slightly off topic but related.
For over 15 years I worked as a rescue marshal on motor racing tracks in several countries (clearing up, putting out fires, getting injured drivers out of their cars after accidents etc.) To get to our posts we usually drove our own cars round the track but had to maintain "sensible" speeds (No, boss, I never drove at over 110 mph, honest boss).
A mate got it wrong one day, reversing into the tyre barrier at some speed, but normal insurance is not valid on the track. Next day, stopped at lights when going to work, some very sensible woman behind didn't stop, causing considerable apparent damage to the back of his car. Her insurance paid.
(That is HIS story. Lucky so-'n-so! )
For over 15 years I worked as a rescue marshal on motor racing tracks in several countries (clearing up, putting out fires, getting injured drivers out of their cars after accidents etc.) To get to our posts we usually drove our own cars round the track but had to maintain "sensible" speeds (No, boss, I never drove at over 110 mph, honest boss).
A mate got it wrong one day, reversing into the tyre barrier at some speed, but normal insurance is not valid on the track. Next day, stopped at lights when going to work, some very sensible woman behind didn't stop, causing considerable apparent damage to the back of his car. Her insurance paid.
(That is HIS story. Lucky so-'n-so! )
Having more money doesn't make you happier. I have 50 million dollars
but I'm just as happy as when I had 48 million.
(Arnold Schwarzenegger!)
but I'm just as happy as when I had 48 million.
(Arnold Schwarzenegger!)
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cj
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This sort of thing can give you a real shock. I hope you're OK, Mrs C. But what I would like to know is, what drives these people to think up these schemes in the first place? It seems like such a convoluted way of getting a bit of money, and causing unjustified aggro to an unknown person is very disquieting imho. If you had pretended to be a complete lunatic in response I wonder if the perpetrator would have fled?
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Any idiot can deal with a crisis. It takes a genius to cope with everyday life.
Canteen Cath 1.12 (1983-85) & Col A 20 (1985-90)
Any idiot can deal with a crisis. It takes a genius to cope with everyday life.
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Mrs C.
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What makes you think says I need to pretend???cj wrote:This sort of thing can give you a real shock. I hope you're OK, Mrs C. But what I would like to know is, what drives these people to think up these schemes in the first place? It seems like such a convoluted way of getting a bit of money, and causing unjustified aggro to an unknown person is very disquieting imho. If you had pretended to be a complete lunatic in response I wonder if the perpetrator would have fled?
Well ,as yet, no knocks at the door from anyone other than a neighgbour.
The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.
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kerrensimmonds
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Good luck Mrs. C... we have all these e mail messages to pass round about being aware of scams in car parks, and from the initial reading it looks as if you might have been the victim of one such. I am sorry that it left you shaken (as it would have done to me, I have to say!) Maybe the involvement of the car washers and the response from Sainsburys today will count for you if this goes any further, though my gut feeling is that it probably won't. He tried, didn't get anywhere, and now some other innocent victim might be in the frame.
I hope you feel better soon - though the waiting (to hear from someone legal) might be a bit tense. I understand that the maximum time for hearing from the people who operate the speed cameras is 28 days - so when I was 'flashed' way back in March (knowing that I was doing about 30.5 mph in a 30 mph limit) I sat on tenterhooks for the next four Thursdays. Hope you will similarly soon feel relaxed enough to move on.. but in the meantime it is good that you have opened this discussion on the Forum as the 'freshness' of the incident will be evident should the unthinkable happen and you do get summoned to Court.
Take care...! And if you do get summoned to Court we will ALL be there to support you..!
Kerren
I hope you feel better soon - though the waiting (to hear from someone legal) might be a bit tense. I understand that the maximum time for hearing from the people who operate the speed cameras is 28 days - so when I was 'flashed' way back in March (knowing that I was doing about 30.5 mph in a 30 mph limit) I sat on tenterhooks for the next four Thursdays. Hope you will similarly soon feel relaxed enough to move on.. but in the meantime it is good that you have opened this discussion on the Forum as the 'freshness' of the incident will be evident should the unthinkable happen and you do get summoned to Court.
Take care...! And if you do get summoned to Court we will ALL be there to support you..!
Kerren
Kerren Simmonds
5's and 2's Hertford, 1957-1966
5's and 2's Hertford, 1957-1966
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Angela Woodford
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Mrs C is Innocent!
Absolutely Kerren - I would be there to support Mrs C!
(Wrote of local parking scam earlier, and have now deleted it! Seemed depressing in retrospect!)
Surely the insurance company would examine Mrs C's vehicle door to see evidence of "reckless opening that did damage"? And there would be no sign of corresponding evidence on van door? Possibly even traces of another vehicle entirely if van was damaged?
Which is why the sorry tale of Reuben's friend perplexed me a bit.
Love, Munch
(Wrote of local parking scam earlier, and have now deleted it! Seemed depressing in retrospect!)
Surely the insurance company would examine Mrs C's vehicle door to see evidence of "reckless opening that did damage"? And there would be no sign of corresponding evidence on van door? Possibly even traces of another vehicle entirely if van was damaged?
Which is why the sorry tale of Reuben's friend perplexed me a bit.
Love, Munch