Automated Voice Telephone Call.

[melv16]

My car was written off last Saturday evening, outside my house. Police and insurance were notified and have the case nearly sorted.
This evening I received a call from a firm of accident compensation solicitors asking about the accident. Did I have any injuries etc. I'm sure the person calling wasn't a human, as the delays between my answers and 'her' questions had quite a long delay between them.
Are these companies now using algorithms and robots to phone people?

[Toorak]

Are you sure it was directly related to your accident and not a spam caller? I get loads of calls from people asking about my recent ‘accident’ that I didn’t have.

[douglas9401]

Please press 1 for a reply. :-)

[melv16]

I'm certain, toorak.

[Tilly2]

Sorry to hear that, Melv. I can't answer your question but do commiserate about the car.

[melv16]

It was a hit and run, Tilly. He managed to shunt my car 10' down the road into the back of my neighbours car.

[Tilly2]

Might have been a she.

[melv16]

The police have found the driver. Someone on the road got the reg number. Luckily, he was insured and has admitted liability. Drink, drugs or both were probably involved, hence the driving off.

[Tuvok]

"accident compensation solicitors" - first thing I would do is search their phone number.

If its spam you should see a lot of people commenting.

[fiction-factory]

Was anyone in your car at the time? If not I'm not sure what accident compensation they could be referring to.
So it could just be a coincidence- we all get these calls about accidents we never had or where a few questions make it clear they have no idea when the accident was or what my name is or what my car was. They use automated calls because they know they have to ring dozens before they strike lucky with someone who has had an accident.
Sometimes, though, repair garages pass on details to accident claims companies but these claims companies wouldn't then use a automated one if they were sure there was a fair chance you have had an accident

[woofgang]

I get these in spates and yes quite a lot of them are automated calls.

[Maydup]

I have always suspected that these accident claim companies get the contact details from the insurance companies or even the police data bases after an incident. It was no co-incident that you received the call, but nevertheless it is opportunistic. You may well receive some more. Since there is no injury there is no compensation to be had other than the insurance claim.

[New Judge]

They do get information from Insurance companies and quite frankly it's a bloody disgrace. I know this for a fact. My car suffered minor damage whilst parked a couple of years ago. I gave my insurers a mobile number which only they and a few close friends and relatives had. Within a week I started receiving calls from the leeches. My number could only have been given to them by my insurers.

[melv16]

I'm used to getting automated calls from various companies. But, I had a conversation with one. I could tell by the gaps in the conversation it was a robot I was talking to.
Alan Bennett tells a story when he was pick pocketed in a bank. He went to the police to report the theft. Within 30mins he had reporters knocking at his door. Only the police knew of the crime.

[Milo2]

My husband’s car was damaged while parked outside our house. The person responsible claimed on his insurance. My husband received similar calls despite the fact that he wasn’t in the car at the time.

[ToraToraTora]

just treat it like a Turing test, say something out of context and you'll tell instantly.