Tonight ` The car just, sort of, hit me, and I, sort of, went over the bonnet. And my mate's, sort of, looking over me, and he says, 'Are you dead, bro?' He got hit by a car. Now he's been hit with a bill for damages. I just` I actually thought it was a joke, yeah. The driver is bewildered. What about all the money I've paid? (LAUGHS) What they done with that? Time to put some questions to the insurance company. You've already been paid premiums by the customer. Isn't that double dipping? Plus ` Whom I speaking to please? Dale Scott. Identity fraud. One of the main things that made me hot under the collar was the fact it was just so easy to do. Losing your identity to a thief can be a costly business. It was pretty shocking. And remember this? Hey, hey, hey, hey! We take a look back in time... Whoa. ...as Gordon prepares to ride off into the sunset. My name is El Gordo. Copyright Able 2016 Welcome to the show ` a show tinged with sadness, because this is going to be Gordon's last. I can't believe you're leaving us. Yeah, it's a pretty weird feeling, actually, Pippa. Yeah. We will get to the farewell later, but first ` insurance. It is an industry that thrives and survives on fear. Afraid of getting sick? You buy health insurance. Afraid of getting burgled? You buy home and contents insurance. Afraid of getting your car stolen? You buy motor vehicle insurance. So do you need pedestrian insurance? Garth meets a man who got hit by a car and then 18-months later got hit by a bill for damages. We're warned all the time to take care when we use the road ` watch our speed, watch for others,... TYRES SCREECH ...whether we're at the wheel or on foot, because the stakes are so high. The car just, sort of, hit me, and I, sort of, went over the bonnet and got rag-dolled. It was awful ` thought I'd killed him. I just sorta come to on the ground, yeah, looking up at the sky. I stopped the car and went back and sat in the gutter because I was shaking. And my mate's sorta looking over me, and he says, 'Are you dead, bro?' And I sorta looked up to him and said, 'No,' so that was, sort of, a good sign I guess. He can smile now, but when Dan met Wendy, neither knew what had hit them. The sound of that ambulance coming was pretty much music to my ears. I went to pieces. But not because Wendy thought she'd done wrong. They said it wasn't my fault, but it was pretty horrific. Police filed their report. It said Wendy wasn't speeding or at fault and that Daniel admitted he hadn't looked. He doesn't really remember much, though. Those next few hours had been a blur. I guess I just didn't make a statement. I just said, 'I don't want her charged. 'I don't want anything to happen to her. I feel sorry for her, you know? 'We've both been through an ordeal today.' Daniel was off work seven months. He'd been on a casual contract when the accident happened, so wasn't getting much from ACC. But he had the hills around Christchurch to walk in and a job offer in Wanaka. Another year passed. I had fully moved on by that, sort of, point. I was just back getting on with my life, you know, and I just wanted to get back into my building and just, you know, strengthen my arm up again. Daniel thought his accident was behind him when an old flatmate sent him a text ` he had mail. I'm getting sued for 4 grand for the damages. I just` I actually thought it was a joke, yeah. Wendy had also put the accident behind her. She paid her excess; the insurance covered the repairs. Life went back to normal, and the drama all seemed to be on the telly where it belongs. Then she got a letter too, calling her to the disputes tribunal to help out her insurer AMI. I didn't want to really do it, but I had to go because it was my accident, so I did. She was basically dragged in there like bait. He was really annoyed and very upset and very annoyed. Wendy was puzzled. I didn't realise that he had to pay. Yeah. I didn't` I thought I was insured; my insurance would pay for the car. The Disputes Tribunal heard the case. Daniel tried to argue he wasn't negligent. But the Tribunal had a police report and Wendy's word. I hate to say it, but I think he was responsible, because he was the one who came out behind the van. Um, I didn't see him until I was right on top of him ` a bit late then. The Tribunal found Dan liable for the damage to Wendy's car. And he discovered you do need to be insured just to cross the road. He owed AMI $3800 for the losses it had run up. Except hadn't they already had their money from the premiums? All the money that I'd paid, (LAUGHS) what have they done with that? It's a question Daniel ponders as well. I just about died, and that should have been enough for someone to go through, you know, without having that come back a year and a half later to drag me back into court. So let's get this straight ` the motorist is fully paid out by her insurer, AMI. The pedestrian quietly gets on with his recovery and his life. Then 18 months after the accident, both parties have to eyeball each other across a table because AMI wants to recover the cost of damages from the pedestrian who wasn't insured. Time to get AMI's point of view. We need to tell you ` Wendy decided after we spoke that she didn't want her insurer, AMI, to discuss her private business with us. But personal liability for damages can affect any one of us, so this is a general discussion you may still find very interesting with the company that owns AMI ` IAG. When somebody makes an insurance claim with us, we'll accept the claim on the understanding that, of course, the person is going to work with us to sort out every issue with the claim, and that's frequently going to be assisting us in deciding whether somebody else is at fault and whether those costs should be recovered. You, as a business, you're being paid by the customer. But if you've been paid premiums by the customer and then you go to a Tribunal and you claim damages, isn't that double dipping? No, it's absolutely not. Things got a little tense. It's an unreasonably hostile question, isn't it? Really? I think so. This is business as usual for an insurance company, but we'd just met two people dragged back to court 18 months after an ordeal they both wanted to forget. If our insured then feels awkward about the situation, the very first thing we'll do is talk to our own insured, but the starting point is` again that we're talking about recovering a debt that is owed. If we decided to pay every claim but not recover costs when those costs are rightly recoverable, then, of course, everyone's premiums would go up a significant amount more. Except this is a big business. IAG owns AMI and NZI and State and Lumley Insurance and businesses in Australia and Asia. IAG posted a $1.2 billion insurance profit last year. And we now know they don't just get money from the premiums you pay. But if you can be held liable for crossing the road, where does it end? We have an automatic rule across the board that we would not consider finding somebody liable who was under the age of 16, for example. So if my child ran out and caused an accident, would I be liable? Uh, look, to be honest, maybe a question would be asked ` should that parent have actually been actively taking care of that child. Is in fact the parent actually liable? But in 99% of all situations, it's going to be a case of, 'Well, it was just a kid.' So can you insure yourself for crossing the road? Well, as strange as it sounds, if Daniel had had simple contents insurance ` the kind that covers your stuff from theft or fire ` it's almost certain that folded into that would have been a million dollars' worth of protection from being found personally liable for causing damages. The contents liability cover basically says you're covered for liability that might be incurred through doing your everyday business. Daniel had no car and no other insurance when he was knocked to the curb. He didn't know about personal liability. He certainly does now. And he's reminded every month when his bank sends AMI another hundred bucks to pay off his debt. Now, I'd never be without contents insurance, No. but I had no idea it would cover me in that bizarre scenario. Exactly. The insurer has legal rights they're exercising here, and the Disputes Tribunal found in its favour. Now, IAG's spokesman ` remember IAG owns AMI ` he says the tribunal is a last resort after trying and failing to get hold of the person and reach some agreement about the damages. We think being insured is important, and knowing what happened to Daniel really shows just how important, in ways you might not expect. Completely. Now, after the break ` you'll be amazed at how easy it is to become a victim of identity theft. Mercury Energy. Good day. One phone call is all it took. Whom I speaking to, please? Dale Scott. Dale's identity had been stolen. It was pretty shocking. Clearing his name was no easy task. You were asking to say, 'Well, show me these bills,' and they were saying,...? 'No, you can't have them.' Plus ` I guess you'd go with McDonalds. Burger King, I love it. Is there such a thing as immortal burgers? It's time to take a sneak peek into the pantry. To be honest, the thought of it is making me a little bit queasy. Welcome back. Time to talk about the most valuable thing you own ` your identity. It's the one thing you have that no one else has. Lose it and you'll quickly discover it's worth more than you think. Which is why we expect the corporate world to take steps to protect us, but are they really doing a good job? If one man's dealings with Mercury Energy are anything to go by, that faith may be misplaced. Here's Hannah. UNSETTLING MUSIC It all started with a phone call. Mercury Energy. Good day. How can I assist you? A call from a man about to become a Mercury customer. I'm just moving to the new place, and it's got a letter from you guys in the letterbox. But, of course, we wouldn't be shooting this in silhouette with actors if this was just an ordinary customer setting up a power account. OK, and who am I speaking to, please? Dale Scott. It wasn't Dale Scott. This is Dale Scott. And what does he think of someone pretending to be him? That it was pretty shocking. and Dale is D-A-L-E? Yeah. And Scott is S-C-O-T-T? Yeah. After the shock of learning someone took his name, it took the real Dale Scott weeks to sort out the mess left by the imposter. Just wanting to clear my name as quickly as possible. Now, for legal reasons we can't say who was impersonating Dale, but we can tell you how it happened, that it can happen to anyone and that it can really mess you up. Can I please get one long black? Dale only found out because his impersonator racked up a $1500 debt with Mercury and the debt collectors came after Dale. He told Mercury, 'It's not my debt.' I was treated as a suspicious character and didn't really get anywhere. Mercury said, 'Make a police complaint,' so he did. But he needed these ` the actual power accounts in his name. You were asking to say, 'Well, show me these bills that I'm supposed to have accrued,' and they were saying,...? 'No, you can't have them.' To prove he was the real Dale Scott, he scanned both his driver's licence and passport, had them verified by a lawyer, sent them off to Mercury, and finally got own records, including the phone call. Listening to this call of this person being you,... Yep. ...did you get a bit hot under the collar? Yeah, no, no, definitely, definitely did. But it was also the fact that it was so easily avoided that really annoyed me. Easily avoided? Listen to this. Dale, do you have a second name, a middle name? Peter. OK, can I please get your date of birth? 4, 4th of the 12th. And that was the only ID the imposter was asked for. OK, so I'll set up the account for you. To open the account, there was no need for photo identification, not even a bank statement or anything like that. His impersonator got, in effect, a $1500 loan. I think everyone would think it a bit shocking if banks were offering personal loans to the tune of $1500 over the phone, and all you needed to do was provide someone's name and date of birth. It took Dale a couple of months to clear up the mess, to make this bad credit rating disappeared from everyone's records. By the end of it, I'd probably invested about 40 hours in it so far. That's calling Baycorp, calling Mercury Energy, dealing with the police. So it was three to four months that this was sitting there as a mark against my name, yeah. During that time, I'm guessing a lot of damage could've been done? Definitely, definitely. Mercury did do some checks during the imposter's phone call ` checks for their own protection. Do you give permission for Mercury Energy to do an external credit check? What's that? Well, with every account that we process, we have to do a credit check based on your credit history and references. Oh, yeah. Of course, that credit check just showed the real Dale Scott's credit record, so no red flag there. And while Mercury failed to get the real name of their new customer, they did get some good info on his dogs. OK, and their names? Their names? Yes, what's the names of the dogs? What do you need the names of the dogs for? Well, because sometimes if a dog attacks and you call its name, it will stop. We do send a technician or meter reader round from time to time just to check on the meter. The first one's Doggy, and the other one's Petrol. And, of course, we can't guarantee that those are the real names. What we do know is that power company's like Mercury want to make it as easy as possible for people like us to sign up with them. Easy? Too easy. They made a commercial decision to take a certain level of risk, because it streamlines their process. My point was ` you've taken this risk, it's materialised, you should be dealing with the mess that falls out afterwards, not me. So something very strange here ` Mercury has agreed to do an interview, but only by phone, not on camera. But they have agreed to send me a photo of Andrew Peckham, who I'm talking to, so at least I will have his photo ID. First of all, I would like to apologise to Mr Scott. This has been quite an inconvenience to him, and our processes were not up to task here, and his identity was able to be quite easily assumed by someone else. So you do admit that your processes fell way short of what your customers, or in this case your non-customers should expect? Yes, they absolutely did. They feel way short. You are quite correct. From now on, Mercury customers must provide formal ID ` most probably a driver's licence ` when they phone Mercury to sign on. That ID can then be checked against other databases to try and eliminate fraud. Secondly ` When we visit a customer's property, we've asked our team to now ensure that they sight appropriate photo ID, and that's a second check that will help us make sure we are dealing with the customer we think we're dealing with. While those changes do make us all a bit safer, Mercury still doesn't need to actually see the photo ID when people first sign up. It's only seen if Mercury makes a home visit. So if someone else knew your licence details, not good. That's why I found this concerning ` not just for myself but for others, yeah. Wow, it is scary that that can happen. Tricky, though, because you've got to balance the needs for most people to get information quickly and easily against protecting everybody else. Looking after yourself, exactly. Dale has also taken a case to the Privacy Commissioner because he doesn't believe Mercury Energy have protected his personal information. And it's not just Mercury doing this; we had an identical complaint involving a major phone company. So, Pippa, are you relieved the school holidays are over? (LAUGHS) Oh, yeah. Uh, it's time for you, our budding ad makers, to start your brainstorming. Yes, this year, we're asking primary and secondary schools to make a product out of plastic bottles. And then we want you to make an ad promoting your waste creation to the world. You can make a bed base, a kayak, a boat, a chandelier or even an igloo. The world produces 300 million tons every year. Most is used just once and then thrown away. So let's get creative and see if we can find a better use for plastic bottles. All right, after the break, we check out my burger stash. Nando's would be the best. Burger King, I love it. Fast food junkies beware. This is the first time I've seen these burgers for several months. What's really going on between the buns? I wouldn't recommend eating them. Plus ` My name is El Gordo. a sad farewell. El Gordo prepares to ride off into the sunset. . Welcome back. Right, time to find out if fast-food burgers really are immortal. Yes, earlier this year, there was a story in the papers about a 6-year-old Happy Meal that looked as good as the day it was cooked. Curious, we went on a shopping spree at the start of the year and bought an assortment of fast-food burgers to see if they really do last forever. They might not be at the top of any nutritionist's must-eat list, but us Kiwis are pretty fond of our fast-food burgers. Nando's would be the best. I guess you'd go with McDonald's. Burger King. I love it. (LAUGHS) But you do hear alarming stories about fast-food burgers that don't appear to deteriorate, that look the same after years and years. So we wanted to put that to the test ourselves. We bought four burgers from fast-food joints and popped them, along with a home-made burger, in our camping pantry to see how they passed the test of time. These were the burgers when we first bought them. A fortnight on, two of them were starting to show signs of mould. So how's our little experiment looking 4� months on? So this is actually the first time I've seen these burgers for several months. To be honest, the thought of it is making me a little bit queasy. Let's take a look at our burgers now. Ugh, so, well, no mould there. Tiny bit on our home-made burger. It doesn't look like any more since we looked at it when it was two weeks old. Oh, is that a little bit of mould maybe there? Ugh, yuck, Wendy's burger. Hmm, no. Carl's Jr burger. Yeah, that's quite gross. Check out this. Ugh. At the start of our little experiment, food scientist Sarah Maxwell made a few predictions. The burger bun itself would be very crispy. Ugh, yes, and she's bang on. So what's happening is the moisture is being driven off. It's dehydrating. It's gonna be very hard and very crispy, not very palatable. The burger itself would probably look like it's shrinking ` moisture is been driven off. It would just be very dry. And she's pretty much on the money. Later in the year we'll take one last look and tell you exactly what's been going on between the buns, and I tell you ` I think it's gonna surprise you. So, put you off your lunch? Uh, actually, I was feeling hungry, not so much. Not so much now. It is nearly the show. We have a little bit of a non-standard finish tonight, of course. But don't forget ` from 8 o'clock, I will be on Facebook for half an hour to answer your questions. Just her tonight. Just me tonight. Fair Go is all about your problems, your thoughts. Please do contact us. Yes, we're on Facebook. Email us ` fairgo@tvnz.co.nz. Write to us ` Private Bag 92038, Auckland, 1142. Now, Gordie, we mentioned earlier this is your last show. Uh, we will really miss you, and I know that the viewers will really miss you as well. Oh, Pippa, um, Fair Go has been a huge part of my life. Um, I'm very proud to be a small part of a great Kiwi tradition, and it's just been an incredible privilege to help people sort stuff out, large and small, and I will miss that terrible. And I'll miss my colleagues in the Fair Go team. It's been an incredible team to be a part of. Yes. Um, but most of all, thank you, of course, to you, our viewers, because with you, we are nothing. No. Uh, Gordie, we're not gonna let you get away that easily, of course, so here's a little look back on the past eight or so years. My name is El Gordo. I must leave my friends at El Fair Go. CELL PHONE RINGS Hello? I'd like to welcome on to the show now, hot from London, one of our new reporters ` Gordon Harcourt. Here's a joke for you. A woman went to pay her rates with a dollar note in one ear and a $20 note in her other ear. What was she? 21 dollars in arrears. Get it? It shouldn't do that. What is wrong with these and countless thousands of other Monier concrete roof tiles? BOTH EXCLAIM Ow, that really hurt! A bit of a secret ingredient ` for a real flavour kick, how about chucking in a really skanky old cleaning rag? # Because I'm happy. Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof. Do you think that 150 is a fair reflection of the cost involved in clamping and unclamping? One more disturbing thing about this car ` who was it registered to when Angie and Jeremy bought it. You told him it was a $500 wreck before you sold it for $7000! There's a principle here ` parking is a time-sensitive business. A parking company should display the correct time at all of its sites. Hey, exc` Hey, hey, hey, hey! Take your hand off`! At this point, I was punched three times. Just chill out, mate. Yes, I can. Yes, so I'm a reporter with TVNZ Fair Go. I've taken, uh, three punches to the face, as you can see, and the police are now investigating. This is a story about` Oops, what is it about? I've forgotten. # Look at what's happened to me. # I can't believe it myself. # Suddenly, I'm on top of the world. # Should have been somebody else. CELL PHONE RINGS Abby, cut out the racket! Oh, chill out, will you?! Oh, chill out yourself! FUNKY MUSIC (PLAYS POORLY) Oh my God, I want to hug you! That's the last time I was on a horse. (LAUGHS) But I'm not getting back on this horse, I'm afraid. Oh, we will miss you, Gordon, very very much. Gordon, lovely, Gordon. Yeah, we'll miss you terribly. You've been a wonderful colleague. And you're a fabulous human being. And I wish you all the very best for whatever you decide to do. Thank you very much. See you. Farewell. You're fearless. I will miss this very much, but good things come to an end. Can I ring you for advice? ALL LAUGH Well, I'll bill you for it. ALL LAUGH