Customer Insurance fraud
Discussion
Hi all.There are times when as a proprietor I despair at attitdes of some of the general public. If a greater number behaved in the this way I would have given up long ago. Let me enlighten you on 2 instances which drove me to despair.
Recently a client had a underbonnet fire.The assessor agreed the client had undervalued the car though this was in no way our problem. My suggestion was the client pay a % as betterment to eleviate the problem. No, to be to be fair to the client, he agreed the Insurance company would pay the full amount.The client then wanted extra work caried out on the car, which we refused , but we did carry out some of the extra work , having agreed to do the work at a fixed price.As a courtesy, I did replace the clutch etc which incurred no extra cost. Since then, the owner has complained bitterly to the Insurance assessor condeming our standard of work without regard to ourselves and although he has signed the satisfaction note, has told the Insurance company NOT to pay us until ALL the issues have been settled, in other words the extra work is carried out.This arguement is over a component he had agreed to pay for prior to the repair and refuses to pay for now.Stalemate unless I absorb the cost!
Not right in my book and definetly against the law, though whose law?
Secondly,I have had a call from the guy, Low drag descibes as a fraudster to be wary of. I supose I am an expert on the old Mk1 and this guy from Gloucester called me to say he has an important Mk1, a former Works car, which came with....
you got it,.... the DC09 webbers on a B type manifold.He was asking all sorts of questions regarding its` history, works mods etc and knowing my connection I have with Jim Patten,jag world,Mike Hawthorn and the works Mk1s generally alarm bells rang.
The car is, I`m sure a make up of the original which has not been seen for years . At some stage this will be passed off as the real thing.That is unfair to the industry.Ringers whether old or new are still illegal and should remain so. Watch this space
Recently a client had a underbonnet fire.The assessor agreed the client had undervalued the car though this was in no way our problem. My suggestion was the client pay a % as betterment to eleviate the problem. No, to be to be fair to the client, he agreed the Insurance company would pay the full amount.The client then wanted extra work caried out on the car, which we refused , but we did carry out some of the extra work , having agreed to do the work at a fixed price.As a courtesy, I did replace the clutch etc which incurred no extra cost. Since then, the owner has complained bitterly to the Insurance assessor condeming our standard of work without regard to ourselves and although he has signed the satisfaction note, has told the Insurance company NOT to pay us until ALL the issues have been settled, in other words the extra work is carried out.This arguement is over a component he had agreed to pay for prior to the repair and refuses to pay for now.Stalemate unless I absorb the cost!
Not right in my book and definetly against the law, though whose law?
Secondly,I have had a call from the guy, Low drag descibes as a fraudster to be wary of. I supose I am an expert on the old Mk1 and this guy from Gloucester called me to say he has an important Mk1, a former Works car, which came with....
you got it,.... the DC09 webbers on a B type manifold.He was asking all sorts of questions regarding its` history, works mods etc and knowing my connection I have with Jim Patten,jag world,Mike Hawthorn and the works Mk1s generally alarm bells rang.
The car is, I`m sure a make up of the original which has not been seen for years . At some stage this will be passed off as the real thing.That is unfair to the industry.Ringers whether old or new are still illegal and should remain so. Watch this space
Tough break, do these people not realise that this sort of stupid behavour can drag a specialist down.
We had a simliar thing with a guy last year who brought a 308Gt4 in to have the rust and filler in his sills replaced with steel, refused to pay the bill because his car went back with the same warped carbs and worn dizzy as it arrived, the only difference is that it actually ran when we sent it back!
Before:
Remains of the "Sill" 95% filler 5% rust!
After
We had a simliar thing with a guy last year who brought a 308Gt4 in to have the rust and filler in his sills replaced with steel, refused to pay the bill because his car went back with the same warped carbs and worn dizzy as it arrived, the only difference is that it actually ran when we sent it back!
Before:
Remains of the "Sill" 95% filler 5% rust!
After
Edited by AndrewW-G on Tuesday 1st September 15:17
Quite right man, trouble is all you hear of is `the trade did this or that`.
No matter how good you are or how many trade organisations you belong to,or how much pride you take in your work etc, we, the trade seem to get shafted. I thank god these people are in the minority becaause we have absolutely no protection whatsoever from them, but the customer has everybody including the media behind them.
The same crooks will be out there, slating the trade . Totally wrong and it should be illegal, but of course the customer is always right, even if HE is the crook. I`m sorry you experienced a similar incident, I don`t think we are alone in the con ups.
No matter how good you are or how many trade organisations you belong to,or how much pride you take in your work etc, we, the trade seem to get shafted. I thank god these people are in the minority becaause we have absolutely no protection whatsoever from them, but the customer has everybody including the media behind them.
The same crooks will be out there, slating the trade . Totally wrong and it should be illegal, but of course the customer is always right, even if HE is the crook. I`m sorry you experienced a similar incident, I don`t think we are alone in the con ups.
RW774 said:
Secondly,I have had a call from the guy, Low drag descibes as a fraudster to be wary of. I supose I am an expert on the old Mk1 and this guy from Gloucester called me to say he has an important Mk1, a former Works car, which came with....
you got it,.... the DC09 webbers on a B type manifold.He was asking all sorts of questions regarding its` history, works mods etc and knowing my connection I have with Jim Patten,jag world,Mike Hawthorn and the works Mk1s generally alarm bells rang.
The car is, I`m sure a make up of the original which has not been seen for years . At some stage this will be passed off as the real thing.That is unfair to the industry.Ringers whether old or new are still illegal and should remain so. Watch this space
Sounds rather reminiscent of our unintentional involvement in the attempted fraudaulent build of a 250 TdFyou got it,.... the DC09 webbers on a B type manifold.He was asking all sorts of questions regarding its` history, works mods etc and knowing my connection I have with Jim Patten,jag world,Mike Hawthorn and the works Mk1s generally alarm bells rang.
The car is, I`m sure a make up of the original which has not been seen for years . At some stage this will be passed off as the real thing.That is unfair to the industry.Ringers whether old or new are still illegal and should remain so. Watch this space
There really are some serious scum out there, not helped by a lot of people who pass themselves off as something they are not, quite shameful & one would think they wouldn't have the front to do it, but there we are
Just be content within yourself that you have absolutely the right attitude RW
I still get some fallout occassionally from the TdF mess, but I'm quite settled that I (much like yourself) have been open & honest about the situation.Good luck & don't lose any sleep over it, t'aint worth it;)
ATB, Al.
Edited by alsaautomotive on Tuesday 1st September 18:18
Hi Paul, these people are scum. I have a good mate in the trade, I am waiting for them to email over their terms an conditions to see if I can adapt it to cover our own business needs. You need to do this legally to prevent this happening again. I'll forward you a copy when I receive it.
What can I say everyone, thankyou very much for all your support over the insurance scenario. Speaking an Independant assesor yesterday he sees this all the time nowadays especially with the bigger repair shops.Customers demand extras for free. Trouble now is this guy has phoned the Insurance company and told them to withhold payment. Of course with the current world wide downturn they are happy to oblige and we have to wait for the inspection by the assesor.The Assesor is employed by the Insurance company ( in house not an independant) and hey presto, he has a full diary and doesn`t know when he can visit.I speak to the bank , they say sorry can`t help and are not really interested.I have a meaty VAT bill to pay which is now overdue . Interest and fines await no doubt.I know it is the same for every business , but small businesses are the biggest employers in the country. It won`t be businesses that will be bailed out though irrespective of their profit margins.
Without being a bighead, I suppose I have an in depth knowledge of the ex works Mk1s. It would have been easy for me personally to re-create a ringer, just from my notes/ transcripts of interviews etc. It would be so easy to do and I know I could make a huge amount of money from it.But then I would be a crook aswell. It satisfies me to know there are many other specialists out there who feel the same way, as this topic has revealed.I take my hat off to you.
Graham, thanks for your help re the contract.
Without being a bighead, I suppose I have an in depth knowledge of the ex works Mk1s. It would have been easy for me personally to re-create a ringer, just from my notes/ transcripts of interviews etc. It would be so easy to do and I know I could make a huge amount of money from it.But then I would be a crook aswell. It satisfies me to know there are many other specialists out there who feel the same way, as this topic has revealed.I take my hat off to you.
Graham, thanks for your help re the contract.
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