[aesmith]

Hi,

Posting this as a warning in case others get the same.

I received a call today which I am pretty sure is a scam or hoax. The caller claimed to be from Bennetts and the story he gave was that a technical error meant that my policy had not properly updated the MIB meaning that my bikes would show as uninsured on ANPR or Police checks, and with the DVLA. He claimed that the only solution was to cancel the existing policy and create a new one on the same terms. Although he claimed I would not be "financially disadvantaged" it sounds as though what he was after was for me to pay him a new 12 month premium, then expect a part refund from Bennetts for the unexpired term. When I suggested he should put all this in writing he said that wasn't possible. While on the phone I checked AskMIB online and both registrations showed as covered, when I told the caller he said that was odd as my policy was definitely listed as one affected, however if they showed as covered then no action was needed.

Reasons for thinking this was attempted fraud (1) caller was from a Coventry number 024 7771 9024 (2) refusal to put things in writing (3) the bikes were shown as covered in any case and (4) the whole story sounds fishy.

Assuming it is a scam then clearly there has been some serious leakage of customer information, the caller knew I had a multi bike policy with yourselves, knew my phone number and knew the level of cover on the policy and the underwriter.

Edit - I don't completely rule out it being genuine, I wouldn't want to underestimate the incompetence of the insurance industry and I've had some crackers from Bennetts in the past.

Tony S