Help with your motor accident claim

[#1]

Have you had the phone scam detailing how help can be provided with your motor accident?

I usually respond before blocking them... "which one?" this is usually met with a long silence followed by a repeat of the opening statement.

Needless to say I haven't actually had an accident recently.

[#2]

Nope but then I do have a call blocker.
BUT I did find out (2 years later) that a previous insurance company had processed a claim AGAINST me. Without telling me or anything. I only found out when I went to use the ncb in a new insurance (not used in the 2 previous years) they said it was invalid and I would have to pay the full amount PLUS a premium for not telling them about "my accident". It took me weeks to sort it out, I eventually threatened them with the ombudsman over it. They finally agreed it wasn't me that was involved in the accident.

[#3]

I don't get many odd calls these days. Had a shed-load middle of last year, and answered them as a non-existent company, which seemed to eventually cut them by about 80%.

Wasn't satisfied as I still got 2 or 3 a week, so just ignored any call not displaying a number/witheld/out of area, and I'm now down to about 2 a month. Cheaper than replacing a perfectly good phone.

[#4]

Used to get calls from 'ambulance chasers' but can't recall getting one this year...

'Microsoft man from India' and 'Computer licence company' (also apparently from India) have rung a few times in the last few weeks - if I'm feeling playful I sometimes string them along for a while to waste their time as well as mine, although generally they're just a pain in the butt, more so of course for those gullible enough to fall for whatever they are trying to scam you out of.

[#5]

Problem with Number Withheld scam callers is that they are used by legitimate callers such as Community Nurses, of which we correctly get several times a month.

But I've noticed a number of times scammers and time wasters are moving towards Number Withheld instead of obscure off-shore numbers. Which you can't block as it also blocks the legitimate ones as well.

I've spoken to the nurses control office, they are aware of the problem and certainly get a small number of their calls blocked. But there's very little they can do about it.

[#6]

Which is fine of course but scamming apart these guys are also stealing our time as there is nothing worse than having to stop what you are doing (yes, even doing nothing) and go check who's calling or pick up the phone.

Like many others I have a call blocker so get very few of these days although by the end of the week, I can see my phone had intercepted and blocked quite a few. 

[#7]

My doc & dentist both know that I use a call blocker, as a result they prefix my number so it comes from their real number. They just had to put a note in the notes about it.

[#8]

Known numbers such as doctor, dentist, family and friends are entered into my phone's memory and come straight through - although one of those numbers for some reason always gets interrupted by the answerphone!

Must be a glitch somewhere.   

[#9]

Difference between a call blocker and a phone with call blocking there.

[#10]

I've been registered with the TPS for about a decade and get very few calls.  Since most originate overseas they couldn't care less about your TPS registration.  I did have a call from 'a nice Indian-sounding man' who said he was calling about my car accident, presumably the one I've never had.  A few other calls have been silent ones; I understand they use automatic number generators and sometimes get through to more real numbers than they can deal with so I just got a lot of background office noise before I hung up.

There was a man in America who took the details of every American company that cold called him and told them he'd charge a certain amount for his time; he even went to court and got something like $43 from one such company.  What I can't understand is how do these callers know the exact moment I sit down to eat?

[#11]

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@petlew wrote:

I've spoken to the nurses control office, they are aware of the problem and certainly get a small number of their calls blocked. But there's very little they can do about it.

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Scrapping the policy of witholding their phone number seems like a good place to start. They only need to send their main reception phone number in order to be identified. They don't have to send the number of the phone in their individual office.

Not rocket science that idea is it.. yet they still don't think of these things..

As for scam calls.. we've had two or three from the internet police over the years (one literally calling themselves the internet police division). I waste their time, they don't bother wasting mine afterwards.

Touch wood, we don't seem to get any nuisance calls from anywhere else.

A year or two back some bloke got so fed up with double glazing calls he let them come out to give him a quote before locking the rep in his house and refusing to let them out until the company agreed to stop hassling him. Risky as he could have been done himself but it worked and the company agreed to leave him alone.

An old neighbour of mine once got so fed up of them he let them come around to quote him on a conservatory for his first floor flat.. needless to say they also gave up at that point.