Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2015 22:33:13 GMT
Back in March, we got a letter printed on attorney letterhead addressed to my DH that we are in collections for a "loss" that apparently "Farmers Insurance" suffered in the amount of $8,557.56.
We're apparently in collections for this. This incident (one would guess an auto accident) apparently happened on 12-25-14 in Lubbock, TX.
Fortunately for us, all of our drivers on our insurance policy and all of the vehicles on our insurance policy were at home in GA on Christmas day.
My first thought is, this is clearly some kind of scam trying to get money.
DH googled the attorney on the letterhead and found out that they indeed are collections.
It's fishy in so many ways.
1) Clearly, our drivers/vehicles were not in an accident OR in Lubbock TX on Christmas Day, 2014.
2) This is the very first communication we've received about this. Don't you think there would've been communication with Farmers Insurance first?
3) It takes a while for things to get to collections. If this accident happened on Christmas Day, I'm getting a letter just 3 months after the accident to collect funds?
SO...I immediately contacted my insurance company, USAA to let them know about this and they now have an outstanding claim out there for this. They said they would contact both Farmers and the attorney's office asking for details. (so that they could then turn around and deny the claim)
I also sent a certified letter to the collection attorney telling them that there was no accident as all of our drivers and vehicles were at home in GA on Christmas Day and that because I dispute this claim, they are not to report any collection information on my credit. (well DH's credit...I wrote the letter as DH and he signed it)
I've heard nothing.
Has anyone else ever had anything like this happen? I don't know whether it's simply a mistake or if it's someone that has stolen DH's identity. I'm less concerned about the identity aspect because we just bought a new car last Friday and our credit was pulled...DH finally passed my credit score by 1 point (I had a higher score for many years...he's now 837 and I'm 836. If our identity was stolen I think it would already reflect in the credit report and our numbers would not be as high as they were)
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samantha25
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,320 
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Post by samantha25 on Apr 14, 2015 22:47:08 GMT
I would say that it is fake. It's a fishing scheme to try and get you to pay. What would happen if you ignored it?
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Post by ametallichick on Apr 14, 2015 22:53:48 GMT
I backed into a guy in a parking lot with my 4 wheel drive Suburban. Going like, you know, 2 miles an hour and he sued my insurance company for $8,000.
ALLSTATE!!! And, they paid it. Never even contacted me to see my side of the story!
That's fraudulent to me. Not like what you're dealing with.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2015 23:00:04 GMT
I would say that it is fake. It's a fishing scheme to try and get you to pay. What would happen if you ignored it? My initial thought was to ignore it...but I also don't want DH's credit ruined. (which is why I've even given it the amount of attention I've given it) |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2015 23:03:44 GMT
I backed into a guy in a parking lot with my 4 wheel drive Suburban. Going like, you know, 2 miles an hour and he sued my insurance company for $8,000. ALLSTATE!!! And, they paid it. Never even contacted me to see my side of the story! That's fraudulent to me. Not like what you're dealing with. and wow...that's pretty bad that they didn't even contact you. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2015 23:09:26 GMT
I've never dealt with this, but last year DH had an issue with a low-speed fender bender in a parking lot where the driver jumped out and immediately started going on about $20,000 worth of damage to the front end of his car. It sounded fishy to us but we let the insurance company sort it out...
...which happens to be USAA and they did an excellent job. Fortunately it was in a parking lot with cameras, and we ended up having our deductible reimbursed.
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LeaP
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Posts: 3,939
Location: Los Angeles, CA where 405 meets 101
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Post by LeaP on Apr 14, 2015 23:54:50 GMT
Have you contacted your insurance agent? The letter seems very fishy. I would think that your insurance company would have a department that can deal with issues like this for their policy holders.
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michellegb
Pearl Clutcher
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Location: New England and loving it!
Jun 26, 2014 0:04:59 GMT
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Post by michellegb on Apr 15, 2015 8:14:44 GMT
The collection agent must provide you with evidence of the debt they are trying to collect. I'm a paralegal and we have done a couple letters recently for a client disputing the claims and requesting the backup. I can get you the form if you'd like.
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Post by txdancermom on Apr 15, 2015 10:59:05 GMT
You say they also contacted your insurance company? that is strange - and I would talk to your agent and let them know that there is no way you were in the alleged accident and see what they say. You might also want to consult your own attorney, just to ensure you don't end up with a legal judgment against you
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2015 11:13:16 GMT
Have you contacted your insurance agent? The letter seems very fishy. I would think that your insurance company would have a department that can deal with issues like this for their policy holders.
You say they also contacted your insurance company? that is strange - and I would talk to your agent and let them know that there is no way you were in the alleged accident and see what they say. You might also want to consult your own attorney, just to ensure you don't end up with a legal judgment against you
I am the one that contacted my insurance company. I thought they were a good place to start. They have been made very clear that none of our drivers OR vehicles we're liable for were in an accident on Christmas Day OR in Lubbock TX on Christmas Day.
I tried calling USAA last night and speaking to our "claims adjustor" (and I put this in quotes because I have a hard time calling him a claims adjustor because there was no accident) but he had already left the office. I left him a voice mail asking if he's heard anything from their request for more information from either Farmers OR the collection attorney.
I have already disputed the claim, and sent that dispute certified mail. I still have a little more than a week to dispute it again...if I need to do that with "formal FDCPA language" I can Google to get how things must be worded for an official dispute. |
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MDscrapaholic
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,238
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Jun 25, 2014 20:49:07 GMT
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Apr 15, 2015 11:24:49 GMT
After we closed our trucking business, I received a letter from an attorney stating that one of our trucks was in an accident. I replied to the letter telling them that we did not own the truck anymore and enclosed a copy of our closed DOT account. Never heard back from them.
I would let the insurance company handle it.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2015 12:46:58 GMT
I backed into a guy in a parking lot with my 4 wheel drive Suburban. Going like, you know, 2 miles an hour and he sued my insurance company for $8,000. ALLSTATE!!! And, they paid it. Never even contacted me to see my side of the story! That's fraudulent to me. Not like what you're dealing with. isnt that what you pay them todo? Take care of problem without hassling you? |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2015 13:17:03 GMT
Got a voicemail from our claims guy at USAA this morning.
He said that there was indeed an accident in Lubbock, TX and there is a police report. Our guy has requested a copy of said police report. The vehicle in question is a 2000 Dodge Dakota. (which Alex said has never been on our policy) and the driver was some guy named Matthew _________. (which Alex confirmed is not and has never been on our policy)
Our guy said that the collection attorney has not returned any of his phone calls requesting information. Our guy got the information he's gotten so far from Farmers directly. Our guy has a call into the Farmers claim guy to try and figure out how my DH got dragged into this.
So if Farmers has the information on the vehicle and driver, that means that either when the information was relayed from Farmers to this collection attorney it was done incorrectly OR that this collection attorney is a complete scam and they assume people won't go to the trouble to get any information. I so badly want to call them and tell them how effed up they are to do stuff like this, but the rational side of me says not to initiate any contact at all with them and allow USAA to handle it.
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Rainbow
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Where salt is in the air and sand is at my feet...
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Post by Rainbow on Apr 15, 2015 15:42:50 GMT
Who is Alex?
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2015 15:49:25 GMT
Alex is our claims adjustor at USAA who is doing all the leg work on this in trying to contact Farmers and the collection attorney |
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Post by ametallichick on Apr 15, 2015 18:52:26 GMT
I backed into a guy in a parking lot with my 4 wheel drive Suburban. Going like, you know, 2 miles an hour and he sued my insurance company for $8,000. ALLSTATE!!! And, they paid it. Never even contacted me to see my side of the story! That's fraudulent to me. Not like what you're dealing with. isnt that what you pay them todo? Take care of problem without hassling you? Yes but to pay a fraudulent claim? The guy was such an ass**** and seriously $8,000??? Not even asking me what happened. Getting my side. |
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Post by krc11 on Apr 15, 2015 18:59:31 GMT
Even if a person didn't contact the other driver or their insurance, no way would a lawsuit be able to be filed, served, a default jugement taken (in case of no response) and time for notice of the default and go into collections in four months. No way. They were trying to get money and make have used the lawfirms letterhead. Did you notice if the address or phone number on the website was the same as on the letter?
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2015 19:13:23 GMT
isnt that what you pay them todo? Take care of problem without hassling you? Yes but to pay a fraudulent claim? The guy was such an ass**** and seriously $8,000??? Not even asking me what happened. Getting my side. But you did actually back into him. And $8k is not worth their time to argue/investigate. I would be thrilled with that kind of service. |
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Post by Dictionary on Apr 15, 2015 19:20:58 GMT
USAA is great and this sounds like someone transposed a driver's license number either on purpose or by accident and they basically have the wrong information thus why you have the collections letter and both the driver and registered owner are different on the police report. It does sound scamish but I can't see that Farmer's would be involved. Maybe their client is scamming them but certainly not Farmers. Keep us posted, would love to hear what happens.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Apr 15, 2015 19:25:08 GMT
I have no advice, but I hope you get to the bottom of this. I would love to hear how it all works out.
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Post by eebud on Apr 15, 2015 19:30:59 GMT
USAA is great and this sounds like someone transposed a driver's license number either on purpose or by accident and they basically have the wrong information thus why you have the collections letter and both the driver and registered owner are different on the police report. It does sound scamish but I can't see that Farmer's would be involved. Maybe their client is scamming them but certainly not Farmers. Keep us posted, would love to hear what happens. This is what I was thinking too.............some numbers were transposed somewhere along the line. If not the Driver's license number, then maybe Matthew is also a USAA customer and something was transposed on the policy number when the claim was filed that ended up being OP's policy. The 4 months from accident to collections lawyer is very fishy. But, if something was transposed and now the person who was hit thinks that he/she scammed by Matthew when really it is a transposed number issue, they may have gone to a lawyer quickly. |
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Post by kristi on Apr 15, 2015 19:35:19 GMT
I think they wrote down a drivers license or license plate number wrong.
USAA is great & I am sure they will get it taken care of.
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scrapaddie
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,090
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Post by scrapaddie on Apr 15, 2015 19:36:48 GMT
I backed into a guy in a parking lot with my 4 wheel drive Suburban. Going like, you know, 2 miles an hour and he sued my insurance company for $8,000. ALLSTATE!!! And, they paid it. Never even contacted me to see my side of the story! That's fraudulent to me. Not like what you're dealing with. You didn't contact your insurance co.p as ny yourself when it happened? No one goes two mpg and even as slow speeds a suburban ca n cause some damage it is hard enough to get insurance c.f. companies to pay.... I doubt they pay a penny more than they need to..... |
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The Birdhouse Lady
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Jun 30, 2014 17:15:19 GMT
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Post by The Birdhouse Lady on Apr 15, 2015 19:44:25 GMT
Sounds like you are getting a handle on this situation but I would have asked to see pictures of the accident. Obviously your car wouldn't be in the photos since you were in Georgia.
I also think that somewhere along the lines some numbers got transposed.
Hopefully you get this resolved quickly. I hate things like this hanging over my head. |
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Post by gmcwife1 on Apr 15, 2015 20:11:15 GMT
Alex is our claims adjustor at USAA who is doing all the leg work on this in trying to contact Farmers and the collection attorney I love USAA and if past experience with them is any indicator, things will work out well with little work on your part!! |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:11:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2015 20:12:05 GMT
USAA is great and this sounds like someone transposed a driver's license number either on purpose or by accident and they basically have the wrong information thus why you have the collections letter and both the driver and registered owner are different on the police report. It does sound scamish but I can't see that Farmer's would be involved. Maybe their client is scamming them but certainly not Farmers. Keep us posted, would love to hear what happens. I agree that Farmers is reputable and there's no way they'd be involved in any kind of scam. I brought up a good question to my USAA guy today and asked if Farmers is aware that this collections attorney is collecting on their behalf. Alex said that was a good question so when he talks to Farmers, he'll probably ask them.
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