Don’t be sucked in!

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Whichever way you turn nowadays, someone is waiting to snare you one way or another. And one way people often get duped is by hurriedly clicking on the first link that comes up from a Google search. In this country for example if you search for something like applying for a passport, links will come up which are for some scammers who will charge you to submit the application, which should be free (yes you have to pay for the passport, but you don’t have to pay for the application process as well!) They are not actually doing anything illegal, they are providing a legitimate service, but they don’t make it at all clear that you don’t need to use them in the first place. Now that people started to get wise to those, new ones have popped up. These are for ‘insurance claim management’ companies. Basically some people who have been in a car accident, look online for the contact details for their insurer and the first number that comes up is for an insurance claim manager. In a flustered and shaken state, a driver can easily think they are talking to their insurer and these people don’t make it at all clear, but they charge for managing a claim, hiring a replacement vehicle, and other things which are probably already included in your insurance cover. And of course if you call the wrong people you have not fulfilled your legal obligation of informing your insurer about an accident either! The best way to avoid something like this is to be prepared in advance. Make sure you have your insurer’s contact details in the car and if you have a mobile phone, save the insurance company ‘in case of an accident’ number there as well. Then you won’t be caught out in the heat of the moment.