Surge in staged car crash scams

[reggie124]

The number of "crash for cash" scams where drivers stage accidents to claim on insurance is increasing around the country, new figures show.

Typically the racket - in which fraudsters claim thousands on pounds on innocent drivers' insurance - has been carried out in the north west of England.

But parts of London are in the top 10 hot spots for the first time, the latest data shows, with east London in sixth position and north London in ninth.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) estimates around 30,000 accidents are staged each year, with each claim averaging around £17,000.

It costs insurers about £350 million, adding £44 to the premium of every driver in the country.

Birmingham is the UK's top fraud hot spot, the IFB said, with the other four top places taken by Liverpool, Blackburn, Manchester and Leeds.

Fraudsters usually brake suddenly on a clear road or roundabout to make an innocent motorist drive into the back of their vehicle.

They go on to claim for personal injury, damage to the car and recovery fees.

Sgt Mark Beales, from Greater Manchester Police, warned that criminals targeted their victims carefully.

He told the BBC: "What these fraudsters tend to pick on are people who are single mums or elderly people, people who are less likely to cause them any issues. They also target drivers of commercial vehicles, because drivers tend not to care as much if they're not driving their own vehicle."

Surge in staged car crash scams -  UK News - MSN News UK

 

[oneman]

Not really much surprise TBH. And even those involved in legit claims are pushed by lawyers to claim to the maximum possible.

 

[dar1437]

I think the most common claim is for whiplash which can't really be proven one way or the other so they just offer £1500 straight up which is where they go wrong. Now 15 hundred ponds in the pocket is not going to help their neck is it? What they need to do is just advise the person to go and get some neck theropy and then pay the cost. (that would cut the compo claims by half)

 

[lost_boy]

compensation culture - the governments tooo scared to block it!

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

this is the reason where told that our insurance has gone up, but what i dont understand is if its because of all these faked insurance claims, then why pay out? if they know they are dodgy why pay out? and if they dont pay out, we wont get it passed onto us.


insurance, its the biggest scam on the planet, in no other buisiness model would you be told to not claim, keep a clean license, get a smaller car, dont have a crash, get no claims, because all this will keep your insurance down and make it cheaper for you...............................then they just charge you more anyway because of uninsured drivers or false claims................bullshat.

 

[steptoe]

am going thru one at the moment hit a car in nottingham scamming ba*****s no reason to stop no damage to either car and guess what all claiming whiplash and one extra aswell.!!!!!!!