The AA will not reach out to motorists and offer to make personal injury claims for them. That was the clarification made by the breakdown cover and insurance provider after it surfaced that people were being cold-called by fraudsters.
“This insidious tide of cold calls is a plague on our members and change in the law can’t come soon enough,” said Janet Connor, the AA’s director of insurance. “Over recent weeks around 80 people have told us that a firm claiming to be the AA is contacting them, offering to make a personal injury claim on their behalf.
“The AA does not do this – and our legal team is taking steps to track down who’s responsible.”
The statement comes along with the release of new research conducted by Populus for the AA, which shines a spotlight on the issue of cold-calling. Involving more than 10,000 AA members, the study found that 63% – the same percentage since 2016 – have received nuisance calls from claims management companies over the past 12 months.
In addition, the poll pointed to how random such calls could be, with respondents saying they have been contacted even without having figured in collisions. They could be persistent too, as 88% of those who have been contacted reported having received these calls multiple times.
“Our survey shows that almost all (92%) consider such calls to be a nuisance and 63% believe the number of these calls is increasing, underlining the need for legislation to halt bad practice in the personal injury claims market,” noted Connor.
Last week the Civil Liability Bill passed through its third reading in the House of Lords.
