I was wondering if anything like tis as happenned to any of you guys.
The post arrived on monday and in it was a letter from Belgium from this company claiming that they wanted my insurance details as they had a client whos car he was claiming that I had hit.The alledged accident took place on 12th october on the E17.In there clients statement he claims that he was in my blind spot and that it would have been unlikely that I would even have felt any thing.
The thing is he obviously made no attempt to flag me down or motion me to stop at the alledged time of the event.
There is no damage on my truck to suggest that any thing like this happened.
9 weeks before they notifies me.
30 hrs after the alledged accident before he make his statement supposedly at ypres police station.
So what do I do;ignore this letter or not,could it be a scam,surely now it is just my word against his or do any of you know better
Hoss:
I was wondering if anything like tis as happenned to any of you guys.
The post arrived on monday and in it was a letter from Belgium from this company claiming that they wanted my insurance details as they had a client whos car he was claiming that I had hit.The alledged accident took place on 12th october on the E17.In there clients statement he claims that he was in my blind spot and that it would have been unlikely that I would even have felt any thing.
The thing is he obviously made no attempt to flag me down or motion me to stop at the alledged time of the event.
There is no damage on my truck to suggest that any thing like this happened.
9 weeks before they notifies me.
30 hrs after the alledged accident before he make his statement supposedly at ypres police station.
So what do I do;ignore this letter or not,could it be a scam,surely now it is just my word against his or do any of you know better
Hi Hoss, I’m aware that this type of scam exists, but I couldn’t advise you as to whether this particular case is a scam.
Since the “victim” was aware of your blind-spot, how is it that they were in it That sounds a bit fishy to me
One thing appears strange: if you didn’t get flagged down / stop, how did they know where to write to
IMHO, from the info you’ve given, you should give the letter to your boss and let the insurers deal with it.
You might have to fill in a form, but it’s going to be fairly straightforward, since there wasn’t an accident.
I agree with dieseldave. Forward the letter to your boss, or if you are an OD, to your insurers. If you ignore the letter, you may have problems in Belgium in the future if you are pulled and are registered on the police computer.
Try and ascertain where you were at the time of the alleged incident and see if it tallies with their statement.
Certainly stinks to me.
Best of luck!!
Thanks chaps.Apparently they took the number of the trailer and contacted the firm that I pull for (Visbeen) and they gave them my address.The one thing that concerns me about giving them my insurers details is that like all insurance companies they will probbably want to pay out just so that they can take my noclaims discount.
Hoss:
Thanks chaps.Apparently they took the number of the trailer and contacted the firm that I pull for (Visbeen) and they gave them my address.The one thing that concerns me about giving them my insurers details is that like all insurance companies they will probbably want to pay out just so that they can take my noclaims discount.
Hoss, there’s still something very suss about this IMHO.
They’ve provided you with an excuse for how you wouldn’t have known there’d been an accident, so how would they know that you don’t know??
Assuming that you’ve been back and to to Belgium since the “accident” it’s a wonder you’ve not been pulled by the Belgian Police already, since they get truck reg numbers and other details from ferry manifests. (Or do you ship via Calais??)
Surely, if you’d actually done what’s been alleged, the “aggrieved” party would have already reported this to the Belgian police as a hit-and-run■■?
IMHO, you should report this to your insurer, because they’ll probably have a system for verifying this type of claim. You might suggest to them that they check with the Belgian police. They’ll also know whether the company submitting this claim is bona fide.
Hoss:
Apparently they took the number of the trailer and contacted the firm that I pull for (Visbeen) and they gave them my address.
So, they were conveniently able to note the trailer registration , but were not in a position to flag you down or get the local plod to pull you before you got to the port.
I can smell the fish from here, and would hope your insurers will do the same.
Another thought.
You were pulling a (presumably) Dutch registered trailer.
Yer man claims to have been in your blind spot.
Where, in the opinion of our esteemed car driver, does he deem your blind spot to be?
On which side of the car is he claiming contact took place?
Are you LHD or RHD?
IF this accident is for real, why not get your insurance company
to check the claim out, sorry but some how if one has had a
accident then surely you would have heard from the countrys police
and to be honest the belgian police are normaly quick off the
mark as regards non-belgian vehicles,
Thanks for all the replies
In the letter it does not state where they thought my blind spot is or with which part or side of the vehicle I made contact.What seems strange to me is that a car driver knows so much about blindspots etc btw my truck is right hand drive.I have been back to Belgium every week since this reportedly happened with no probs from old bill,normal routes are out via Calais(train) or Hook occasionaly Immingham and Hull with usually 2 trips a week.
Having checked the dates though I was obviously there at this time (never thought other wise) but I do have a witness as I was beeing followed by another English truck who had just started for Visbeen and never done any euro work.We had met up at Bradford loaded together and done the whole trip with me leading the way.
So thanks for the help and I will keep you posted
BTW Blue MAN 530 xxl with Daily Fresh trailer if you want to say hello
Something similar happened to one of my oppos in Belgium, claim through the post etc, all he did was send the info to his insurance company stating on the top ‘‘for information purposes only’’, I don’t think he heard anymore about it. You never know what could happen, big, noisy & foriegn makes us an easy target, good luck
Same thing happened to me a few years ago in France, my boss replied stating I (the driver) had no knowledge of any accident, and denied any liability unless the other vehicle could provide proof of my involvement we would not notify our insurance company or follow up on any claim.
