Hillingdon Watch report. 'Two incidents have been drawn to our attention of a claim for damages being made against the driver of a vehicle, whereby a third party has falsely alleged that a wing mirror has been damaged, and a claim then made against the innocent party.

The most recent incidents were in the Eastcote area, but this type of scam could occur anywhere across our Borough, and this message is being circulated Borough-wide to raise awareness.

One way in which this scam can unfold is that you pass a parked vehicle and hear a loud bang against your own vehicle, which is in fact caused by someone striking it with an object as you pass them.  They then follow you and flash their lights, and you stop and engage with them.

An advanced version of this scam has the driver of the other vehicle moving to the passenger side of your vehicle and pushing your mirror in towards the passenger door, usually as you are getting out.

In all variants they will show you their own broken driver’s side mirror, to convince you that you are at fault.

Advice to follow in this situation:

You will nearly always know whether your mirror has definitely struck someone else’s, but a key method of proving what actually happened is to use a dashcam which will show the scammer’s vehicle with a broken offside mirror before you actually pass it.

Remember to make sure that your dashcam is working and has a full view of the road straight ahead, to capture parked vehicles.

These matters need to be reported to the Police please – this can be done online, and you should do this as soon as possible after the event to protect your own position by creating a written record of the event, date and time to refer back to.

It’s important to get the make, model and colour of the other vehicle involved, and the registration number, together with a full description of the person making the false claim.'

Please also inform Hillingdon Neighbourhood Watch

Email address: hillingdonnhw@gmail.com

Regards,

Dave Ludlow

Community Coordinator

Email: hillingdonnhw@gmail.com