AT age 57, Jill Garland had never been in an accident and never made a car insurance claim.
Little did she know the headache it would cause after her brand new Volkswagen was rear-ended by a P-plater in front of McDonald Jones Stadium in a lunch-time accident last year, on August 3.
The panicked Mayfield resident did a quick Google search for the NRMA claims department, without thinking to use her insurer's app already downloaded on her phone.
She hit and dialled the first number that popped up - it was an 1800 number - and spoke to someone who she alleges were masked as NRMA, and turned out to be a third-party company called I'm In The Right, which she didn't know at the time.
"They told me they'd handle everything for me, I gave them all of the at-fault driver's details and I was super impressed," she said.
A phone call back later that afternoon to Ms Garland and she was told there would be a hire car delivered to her front door the next day, and they had arranged for a Hunter smash repairer to come and collect her car.
"I was just like wow this is really impressive," she said.
But things started to crumble the following week when she called the smash repairer to get an update on her car.
The waiting period
"I've never been involved in an accident before, I rang to see how long this is likely to take and they said with ordering parts it would take about six weeks minimum," she said.
Six weeks turned into 18 weeks when Ms Garland was told there had been a delay in getting parts from Germany.
"Time ticked by, I'm still in the replacement vehicle, I'm still thinking NRMA have handled all of this. It had been a hell of a long time and I wanted my car back so I called the repairer again," she said.
This time she was told the repairer was still waiting on approval from the at-fault driver's insurer to fix her vehicle.
"I'm like what? You've had my car for 18 weeks, ordered parts ... what do you mean you don't have approval?"
Ms Garland called the at-fault driver's insurer and explained the situation to which she was told the smash repairer was not one of their approved repairers.
"The insurer asked me if I just Googled NRMA claims and proceeded to tell me that it was not them. Instead it was a car replacement company masquerading as the claims department," she said.
"They said it's a practice that's not illegal but the insurance companies are fed up with it and are trying to get it stamped out."
Fortunately, despite the confusion the insurer gave approval for repairs of Ms Garland's car.
Bills climb, panic sets in
Those initial six weeks turned into six months before Ms Garland got her car back and said I'm In The Right were charging a hefty $170 per day for use of the hire car.
"The smash repairers took an astonishing 179 days to fix my vehicle, this amounted to a staggering $30,430," she said.
"I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was just seething."
She received her car back in early February, but that's not where the stress ended.
"I got really panicky that I was somehow going to be liable for this huge bill," she said.
She wrote to the smash repairers requesting a time log of repairs and inquired if they had any relationship with the car replacement company to which she says they denied any affiliation.
"They assured me they weren't in business with I'm In The Right, and the other insurer said if I got any correspondent to pay for the hire car to forward it on and they would handle it," she said.
Last week Ms Garland received a letter from Spectre Law - the car replacement company's partner law firm - acting on their behalf to recover the $30,000 from the at-fault driver's insurer.
"It said I may be contacted to provide information. I was starting to be really anxious that I was going to be hit with this bill," she said.
"Until I get a letter from Spectre Law or whoever to say the other insurer have settled this claim, I've still got this worry hanging over me."
Claim farming: deceptive behaviour
To this day, Mr Garland says NRMA are unaware that her vehicle was in an accident.
"I assumed NRMA knew, I just thought this was NRMA dealing with this car replacement company," she said.
"I've never actually told them, I didn't know until 18 weeks that it wasn't NRMA handling it."
It wasn't until she came across an article by ABC Perth where she heard the term 'claim farming'.
"It's when third-party companies falsely imply they represent an insurer, often charging hefty fees for their services," she said.
On the I'm In The Right website, it states they "provide end-to-end accident management solutions by guiding and assisting you through the claims process from the time of the accident to the finalisation of the recovery claim".
An I'm In The Right spokesperson said they were unable to respond by deadline but categorically denied any involvement in claim farming.
Ms Garland said she received an email assuming it was NRMA and zero follow ups.
"Never at any time was I advised they are not NRMA claims. Even when they dropped the car off my husband signed for it, I wasn't home. I think their behaviour is very deceptive," she said.
Since discovering claim farming, she got her call log from Telstra to investigate the number she had dialled.
"I had actually dialled a 1800 number at the accident and NRMA claims are a 1300 number," she said.
"And when I rang it again it was disconnected which makes me think maybe they have bursts of activity."
'I should've rang my insurer'
A spokesperson for Insurance Australia Group, who manage NRMA, said they do not have any direct affiliation with I'm In The Right and has not given consent for its brands to be associated with the organisation.
They said customers who need support with a claim should directly contact them on 13 11 23.
"We can arrange a hire car for NRMA Insurance customers who are not at-fault, with the costs covered in accordance with the customer's policy," they said.
"Our dedicated claims teams will be able to support customers immediately once a claim has been lodged and outline next steps for repair, towing or hire car collection, if this is required and where hire car is a benefit of the relevant policy."
Customers should discuss their claim with their insurer to access immediate support and assistance before engaging repairers and towing or hire car companies, the spokesperson said.
"If I had just rang my insurer, NRMA would have put me into one of their hire cars at a much lower cost," Ms Garland said.
Her advice to others was to be educated about your policy and know who to contact if needed.
"This is a practice although highly dubious, it's not illegal," she said.
"I was anxious after my accident, don't just click on a sponsored ad on Google which was my mistake," she said.
"I should have thought to use my app but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time."
Increasing concern
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) is very concerned about the increase of claim farming practices, a spokesperson said.
" ... and the impact this has on individuals who find themselves in an accidental, unexpected, or unforeseen situations."
They said accident management companies engaging in claims farming activities operate in a regulatory "grey area".
"This allows them to exploit loopholes in consumer law as well as financial services regulations related to claims handling activities," they said.
The ICA urges stronger regulatory measures to combat unethical practices in credit hire and accident management.
"This includes advocating for an enforceable code of conduct, to be potentially overseen by the ACCC, and advocating for ASIC to mandate Australian Financial Services Licenses for organisations involved in such activities," the spokesperson said.
The ICA encourages anyone who receives a call from a suspected claim farmer to report the incident to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
What to do if you need to make a claim
Following an accident, and once the driver is safe, they should note down the details of the other driver/s and vehicle/s involved and contact their insurer via phone or online as soon as possible to make a claim.
The insurer's number can be found on their policy.
"We also recommend customers save their insurer's phone number in their contact list, to have on hand if needed," an NRMA spokesperson said.
