Can you counterclaim if the other party was considered a fraud?

Question

I recently was involved in a minor collision that saw me bump into the back of someones car leaving minimal damage with no more than a scratch on the back bumper.

Anyways, the matter was settled by payin for the bumper to get repaired, yet a few months later i was hit with "injury claims". The case was eventually dropped after being considered a "fraudulent claim".

Since i am 19 and my premiuim will rise after any accidents, am i in a position to counterclaim for my increased insurance premium due to their illegal greedyness?

Have they done anything wrong?

Answer 1

You will lose your no claims bonus no matter how much the insurance company paid to the other driver.

BUT if you repay all their costs they will re-allow the bonus - so it's worth checking. If you paid for the repairs yourself your insurer might not have paid anything out.

NB when estimating the cost of losing your bonus, you have to look at the next 5 years.

Your insurance broker will help you if you ask them.

Answer 2

Well, yes, they did something wrong.  They claimed injury they didn't have, and your insurance was on top of it, and refused to compensate them for their fraudulent injuries.  But that doesn't affect that you hit them, caused damage, and your insurance paid out on your behalf.

As a result of that, your premiums *may* slightly increase at renewal time.  But you can't counterclaim since their injury was not compensated and therefore didn't affect your rate.

Answer 3

Just make sure the DMV knows that this claim was fraudulent.  

You can't do anything about the claim being submitted because you did rear-end someone, yet an at fault accident only gives you 1 point on your driving record.  Having a BI (bodily injury) claim on your record gives you the second point.  Make sure that 2nd point was not applied by your insurance company or the Department of Motor Vehicles.  Check your motor vehicle record and keep checking for the next few months.

Answer 4

you will not be able to do anything about your premiums, you were at fault in the accident,  the fact that the other party then tried to make a fraudulant claim against you has no bearing on that