It's not that often that one could justify a statement like that, but I managed to do just that. Initially it started as a slight incident when I reversed at about 1 km/hour into a car parked behind me in the month of February 2025. I exchanged details with the owner by way of address etc., and I offered to pay for a replacement or repair of his front number plate. That was the only damage save for a small plastic covering panel to which the plate was attached, but I could see that the panel actually popped back into position. I never gave the matter another thought, but on a couple of times, I was actually puzzled by the fact that the owner of the car did not contact me to perhaps ask for re-imbursement of his number plate.
Anyway, nothing happened and I forgot about the incident. It really wasn't big enough to cause any worries until, and wait for it, I received a letter of demand from AAMI for an amount of $2050.00. This demand was accompanied by a photograph showing some fairly comprehensive damage to the right front guard of the car depicted in the photo. BTW, I received the demand not until about August or September, some five to six months later. I scratched my head as I could not recall having been involved in an accident that would have caused the level of damage to the front right of that car. I emailed the Insurer denying having any knowledge of the accident referred to and I put it out of my mind. I even deleted the email which had shown the damage to the car and, again, I decided to forget all about it.
To my surprise, I received a follow up demand which was then accompanied by a series of photographs taken by the claimed at the scene of the incident and further details quoted repairs amounting to about $1080.00 plus three weeks car hire for a further $1100.00. Hmmmm....that was getting serious, and I rang the company to provide me with details of the incident, and to enquire about the date and to identify the make of car. I could not believe what I was confronted with. Clearly, I considered that this was a beat up and I denied having had a collision of that magnitude with anyone, let alone with the car being pictured.
Anyway, there were lots of emails, plus a couple of phone calls to the Company in Queensland and I denied any liability, but I consented to accept responsibility for the damaged number plate etc. etc. I also conveyed to them not to involve any Debt Collection Agency as I did not want the amount of the claim to escalate to higher levels and I advised that I would defend the claim in any Court procedures. Further pictures I requested showed round chalk marks over some other body areas of the car, clearly made by the Panel Beater - obviously this was going to be a case of "let's get as much out of this as possible" whilst the car was with the panel beater. Also, no probs how long it would take to repair the car, and that's where the hiring of a car came into play - maybe a courtesy car supplied by the repairer. Extra money, of course, but I would have none of it, and I accused the assessor of being party to a shady deal and I also requested another copy of the initial photograph that I had been furnished with. As a matter of interest, despite repeated requests for that photo to be resent, AAMI failed to respond to this request. It became quite clear that this was the stitch up I accused the Company to be a party to, and to top it off, the repairer that straightened up the number plate. I then refused to answer two or three phone calls by the Company as I had already decided to go to Court to defend this claim. It is now twenty months since the coming together with the other car and I have not heard from AAMI again. It just proves that occasionally fraudulent demands like this cannot be justified. Regards Styria.
Anyway, nothing happened and I forgot about the incident. It really wasn't big enough to cause any worries until, and wait for it, I received a letter of demand from AAMI for an amount of $2050.00. This demand was accompanied by a photograph showing some fairly comprehensive damage to the right front guard of the car depicted in the photo. BTW, I received the demand not until about August or September, some five to six months later. I scratched my head as I could not recall having been involved in an accident that would have caused the level of damage to the front right of that car. I emailed the Insurer denying having any knowledge of the accident referred to and I put it out of my mind. I even deleted the email which had shown the damage to the car and, again, I decided to forget all about it.
To my surprise, I received a follow up demand which was then accompanied by a series of photographs taken by the claimed at the scene of the incident and further details quoted repairs amounting to about $1080.00 plus three weeks car hire for a further $1100.00. Hmmmm....that was getting serious, and I rang the company to provide me with details of the incident, and to enquire about the date and to identify the make of car. I could not believe what I was confronted with. Clearly, I considered that this was a beat up and I denied having had a collision of that magnitude with anyone, let alone with the car being pictured.
Anyway, there were lots of emails, plus a couple of phone calls to the Company in Queensland and I denied any liability, but I consented to accept responsibility for the damaged number plate etc. etc. I also conveyed to them not to involve any Debt Collection Agency as I did not want the amount of the claim to escalate to higher levels and I advised that I would defend the claim in any Court procedures. Further pictures I requested showed round chalk marks over some other body areas of the car, clearly made by the Panel Beater - obviously this was going to be a case of "let's get as much out of this as possible" whilst the car was with the panel beater. Also, no probs how long it would take to repair the car, and that's where the hiring of a car came into play - maybe a courtesy car supplied by the repairer. Extra money, of course, but I would have none of it, and I accused the assessor of being party to a shady deal and I also requested another copy of the initial photograph that I had been furnished with. As a matter of interest, despite repeated requests for that photo to be resent, AAMI failed to respond to this request. It became quite clear that this was the stitch up I accused the Company to be a party to, and to top it off, the repairer that straightened up the number plate. I then refused to answer two or three phone calls by the Company as I had already decided to go to Court to defend this claim. It is now twenty months since the coming together with the other car and I have not heard from AAMI again. It just proves that occasionally fraudulent demands like this cannot be justified. Regards Styria.
