My wife involved in a near missed incident which she took photos at the time to proof there was not any damages in November 2021 then 3 weeks later, the other party insurance ( RACV ) demanded repair cost of $687 that she actually hit the car. I have emailed to explain to RACV according to their letter that there was not any damages occured (provided proof photos). I have not received any responses from them after that nor any follow up till today, I received a debt collector letter saying my wife is at fault.
I do not want to pay for something we did not do. What should I do in my case?
False Claim Car Insurance
BlackorRed on 10/11/2022 - 00:01
Comments
there was not an accident, I did not keep the demand letter from RACV since it was almost a year now
If there was no accident why did both parties stop and take photos/ exchange details…
my wife thought she hit the car as she was nervous to stop to look but nothing happened so the other party demanded her to surrender her driver licence in case if something might damage inside..lol
Guessing no dashcam footage from then either?
it was but my wife thought she did not hit or damage the other party car so she did not tell me straight away to go back to the footages to save it and it was erased after 3 weeks later when RACV demanded. She only took photos at the time of the incident which date and time was tagged in the photo
But your wife surrended drivers license…
i know how stupid she was but it was not any damages in my car, how did it occur an accident in the first place?
That's not really an indicator of anything. It's very possible for me to rear end a smaller car rendering it a complete write-off while barely having a scratch on my off-road steel bullbar. Doesn't mean no accident occured.
Something doesn't add up with your story here or at very least is missing something. But like I said above, what is the repair cost attributed to? Find that out at least if you do not know.
Your wife isn't stupid , we all make mistakes. As for damages , who knows because everything's very hazy with this story !
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/debt/disputing-a-debt
Simple, ask for proof of the debt. Play it from there.
If what you say is accurate and complete, you'll have no issues.
thanks this is all i need, at least someone knows the rules in Australia
Yep and if they say RACV claimed damages, you respond with your email response, say there was no reply and it is past reasonable response times and that to present day there was no acceptance on your part of the damages.
One final sentence to say you are formally disputing this letter. At this point they must cease debt collection activities and also cannot impact your credit file until they actually can back that it's valid. Highly likely they won't bother as they bought the debt for cents to the dollar and the hours and legal time spent on this would outweigh the debt amount.
thank you so much for your value resonses. I will do as you mentioned
Buy your wife a dash cam.
Read the thread.
Oof, she's silly. I kinda don't believe her now that there was no hit. She needs a dash cam that doesn't delete any data, that has like a 1TB sd card in it or something.
Cheaper than a divorce lawyer.
Get your insurance to deal with the other person's insurance.
someone knows the rules in Australia
Unlike you.
Get your insurance to deal with the other person's insurance.
lol I love when people say this as we all know what the response will be…
Yeah I reckon the same haha
Unlike you.
No kidding! That's why they were asking. Get off your high horse.
Sorry, this story doesn't gel…
Your wife is obviously a liar because who gets out of a car and starts taking details and photos for a near-miss?
Your wife may have run over a multitude of people and small animals, putting it all down to random speed humps.
If RACV contacted you directly does that mean your car was not insured? Otherwise they would have contacted your insurance company right?
Why didn't you save the dashcam footage to show that there was no impact instead of saving the photo to show that there was no damage? Did it actually hit the other car and there was no damage visible?
Is the debt collector working for RACV or the other driver?
Something's missing here. People don't take photos and exchange details when "nothing" has happened. "Something" has happened.
People get within centimetres of each others' cars everyday while parking but don't take photos and exchange details "in case" something has happened. Would these be "near misses"?
I'm almost certain there has been some level of contact between the vehicles that has not been disclosed if either the wife's or the OP's version.
When you think about it, a "near miss" is actually a hit.
$687 is nothing in panel shop costs. could have been a slight dent/s which aren't picked up with cameras…
That's about what they would charge for a cut and polish to a panel.
Sad part is they probably used some old rotary tool with a lambswool buffer and did more damage than good.
I don't think there is any insurance job at a panel shop that cheap. Only cash jobs. A respray is going to cost that per panel.
My wife involved in a near missed incident which she took photos at the time to proof there was not any damages
My wife hit another car. There was no visible damage to her untrained eye and she took photos for confirmation bias.
FTFY
love your work muzeeb, where's my monitor?
It sounds like you just need to get a new wife.
doesn't a court of law determine you are liable before a debt can even occur?
didn't they send you a quote? what damage is listed on the quote?
good points
Have you called RACV? Actually talking to them seems like it will do more for you than asking the internet.
Why do people email ? Get your wife on the phone and sort it out with insurance surely it can't be that hard…..
Otherwise use your OWN insurance and get them to sort it out 🍋
Why do people email ?
So there is a "paper" trail - especially if something could end in legal proceedings
Everything is all recorded also on the phone…
They are self-insured
Tell the debt collector there was no collision. Invite them to inspect the photos. Then rinse and repeat as they continue to chase you.
You can't stop them doing what they want
Just keep telling them that story and if they want to initiate a court claim, tell them to go their hardest
Was it a "near miss" or an "accident with no visible damage"?
What is the repair cost attributed to? Seems fairly low so something pretty minor which may not be visible at first.