This is scary for me. Claim for $20,000

I will, thanks. So far I'm at 42 minutes. I'm just gonna leave it on hold and play Crysis 3 for a bit lol. I'm back from school and not scheduled to work tonight, so I have all day to bother them. If I can't get to anyone I may take it to the police or get a free consultant and ask about what will happen if I do nothing with it.

I'm really interested in seeing how this plays out.

@intro:

My first reaction is that it is a scam. I would google the insurance company and whatever names are on the form to see if there is some scam going around or the validity of those involved. I would also try to find legal counsel and see what they suggest. Simply getting a claim in the mail is fucking nonsense. That can't be how this works. For such a big amount due you would have had to have done something huge that you would remember and would have likely heard of some other consequences prior to this claim. Whatever you do, don't give them any information you aren't afraid to give total strangers. Under no circumstances give them financial information, your address, social security information, etc. The onus is on them to explain what is going on not you.

EDIT:

The other thing you could do is contact your insurance company(ies) and see what they say about this. Again, this can't be real. 20K is a ton of money and you would have had other consequences for whatever you did prior to this claim being sent to you.

All done. He said I stole a trailer from an insurance company which is why they wanted $20,000 in damages. I denied it and he said that's fine, just write us a letter letting us know. He knew from the start that I didn't do it. They just send their damn letters out and see what they can get. I talked to a family member who is educated in this field and they gave me the proper instructions on what to do next and I'll be fine.

Only took the guy an 1 hour to pick up the phone for a 45 second conversation. After he never got back to 3 or 4 voicemails. I was told this company is untrustworthy and ran badly.

Call the cops an report the harassment. Also contact the BBB.

I'm in Ohio and have heard these fools will file a lawsuit with the hope the person will not show up and they'll receive a default judgement. I'd check all 3 of your credit reports as a precaution to make sure this isn't on there.

Literally the exact same thing happened to me with Hollywood video.

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Tell me about it, I feel the exact same way. After I posted in this thread I had to immediately draw this picture of a volcano in MSPaint and stare at it for a while just to get my head right.

So essentially...they sent this letter out to a LOT of people and were playing the numbers. Most will throw it out, a few will freak out and ultimately not do anything, but maybe some will pay. What a great business model.

I hate things like this. You can never be too careful. I got a call one day saying I owed money. Never said why. The person wanted my credit card. I said "No. I'm not giving my credit card over the phone... no clue who you are." The lady on the line said I was in trouble and threatened me basically...still giving me no explanation as to why I owed money and to whom I owed money.

Turns out I owed money for not giving an apartment a 2 weeks notice before moving out. Mind you, I received this call probably a year after I had moved out. Completely my fault tho...was in my contract. Still, the people that try to get the money from you are scumbags. Hard to tell these days who is legit and who isn't.

Basically, yes. When it's for $20,000, it's hard to just throw away and forget about it. Ignoring it just isn't worth the potential risk so I'm glad I got it taken of care of, even though it was a huge pain in the ass. I could not imagine dealing with these people if I had actual debt, I would go insane and off myself.

The guy I talked to sounded like he just crawled out of bed and that I was a dick for calling. I've never seen anyone less interested in their job. My cousin who is the one who is helping me works for a law firm I believe. She's heard of them and said these guys are run poorly and are unprofessional. Wasn't surprised to hear that.

I asked the guy a question and he said just read the letter, it's on there. I waited for 2-3 days with no reply and then after an hour on the phone I'm told to read the letter....

So I'm sending a letter saying I didn't do this shit with my signature and will make it so they have to sign for it when it gets there. Why they couldn't just do the math and say "the 19 year old with no criminal charges 2 hours away didn't steal this damn trailer, so don't bother him" I'll never know. But that's what they do. People get these things for any amount of money and they fall into it and pay. There's not much action one can take, either. They write the letters so they're technically not accusing or straight up calling you guilty, so they can get away with.

@intro: Dude...you're sending a shady law firm/collection agency a copy of your signature? To do what with, exactly? They don't need a copy of it. Whoever the family member was who was "educated" in this type of thing sure did give you some shitty advice, I must say.

Just watch as your signature mysteriously finds it way onto some other documents that you've never seen before. Not a good idea...you need to get advice from an actual lawyer, your cousin clearly isn't qualified to be giving you advice about this.

Eh, when i was 15 i was threatened with a 25k lawsuit because me and my buddy kinda damed up the Susquehanna River (i live near the source so its not that wide here). We made a bridge across it then we got heavy rains and it made a nice water stop... Luckily they gave us a week to clean it up... Moral of this story, dont build a shortcut for your bikes across a major river.

This is a scam.

Alright, I just can't let this continue on. This is most likely a scam and you've been given some awful and straight up wrong advice by people you trust, now you're on the Giant Bomb forums getting more advice from people who aren't qualified to give it. There are some things that are just way beyond the scope of what is appropriate on our forums, and I think this falls firmly into that category. I sincerely hope you work this out, but this isn't the place to do it.

Get a free or low-cost consultation from an attorney in your area and show them the letter, have them tell you what to do. A real attorney who specializes in collections and/or contract law, and not your cousin who you "think works at a law firm."