At night on 18/11/2015 my daughter was involved in a minor car scrape in Prahan, VIC.
As she was pulling out from being parked at the side of the road into a gap of stationary traffic, a vehicle (that was stationary at the time she head checked) suddenly pulled forward into the rear side door of our vehicle. ( Basically she believed he was letting her in, as we all have experienced ourselves).
The driver of the other vehicle drove off immediately.
Once my daughter and her passenger friend had composed themselves, she checked her car wasn't severely damaged and drove on.
A few minutes later she observed a vehicle driving behind her that was then aggressively flashing headlights at her. Against any better judgement, she pulled over. It turned out to be the other party involved in the earlier incident.
The other driver told her to get out of the car to see the damage she 'had caused' to his vehicle. All she could see was a minor paint spot mark. She felt intimidated and afraid. The other driver had a colleague with him and they were both remonstrating and aggressively telling her to admit the accident was her fault. Later she realised the driver's colleague was filming this 'admission' on his mobile phone.
They demanded her details then drove off before providing theirs.
Once she returned home and explained the scenario to us we were unable to report the insurance details of the other driver to our insurer. We didn't have his name nor his rego. The damage to our vehicle was cosmetic, so it wasn't worth lodging a claim - the excess would be more than the repair. If they claimed against our insurance we would not admit blame and the insurers could sort it out.
12/12/2015 : The other driver called my daughter requesting insurance details.
15/12/2015: We texted the details to the number and requested they reciprocate. No details were received.
15/12/2015: Reported the incident to Forest Hill Police since we were unsure where this was heading.
We reported it to AAMI insurance on advice of Police. We did not lodge a claim since the damage to our vehicle was cosmetic, as was the damage to the other parties' vehicle. This was a very low speed incident. AAMI said there is nothing they can do until they receive a claim from the other party against us.
10/02/2016: Letter received in post from JP Auto Recovery Services seeking costs for repair to the owners vehicle. They now named the owner and provided a registration number. The letter stated their client's property was still being assessed and costs would be forwarded to us. They requested we provide them with our insurance claim number or to contact them directly to discuss payment.
12/12/2016: Another letter received from JP Auto Recovery Services stating the same as earlier.
I looked up the registration number of the vehicle they cited in the letter , it was and still is not listed as a registered vehicle in Victoria.
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/buy-sell-or-tra…
25/09/2017: Another letter received stating same as earlier.
11/2017: A copy of the letter was hand delivered to me at home personally by a representative of JP Auto Recovery Services stating the same as earlier.
19/06/2018: Letter received in post from 'Nick Logan + Co' stating we have 'failed to respond to their previous correspondence'. (they have never sent us anything before)
Letter claims they have been unable to negotiate settlement with us nor our insurer. ( Our insurer has never been contacted by the owner of the other vehicle. We have never been provided with the other party's insurance details) .
Letter requests we contact our insurer to arrange settlement of their claim. Failing to do so we will be named as defendant in court proceedings. They still fail to mention what repairs or costs they are claiming for.
We researched the name on the letterhead and found this alarming article
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-lawyer-the-smash-repaire…
22/06/2018: Contacted AAMI again about this recent letter. They told us all we can do is lodge a claim and pay them the excess due! We explained we don't want to lodge a claim as the damage is minor and doesn't require repair. Additionally, we do not accept fault in the case. AAMI representative was less than helpful, even when it was explained this recent correspondence was from a 'suspicious' entity and we would think they would have an interest in 'shutting this down'.
We have retained all copies of correspondence.
Also, what's the 'statute of limitations' on something like this. How can they be chasing 'recovery of costs' so long after the fact and with no details.
- They drove off from the scene to avoid any witness statements (my daughter also had a passenger in her car)
- They failed to provide any details at the scene
- The vehicle was/is not on the VIC registration database
- This latest letter is from an entity with dubious credentials and prior 'form'
Anyone have any advice on how to proceed with this? I am of the opinion it just needs a reply from a legal entity to highlight we are aware of their modus operandi.
To date, we've just ignored the letters because they have failed to provide any insurance details ( per AAMI ).
Paul.
The video "confession" is not admissable as evidence as it was done without your knowledge and was not recorded with suspicious of impending criminal action.
As far as the court is concerned, some random dude just came up behind you and starting blaming you for damages and intimidating you into a confession. That's criminal.
Or something like that.