Cash for crash car insurance fraud is endangering the lives of innocent road users and costing the industry over £200million a year.
'Cash for crash' car insurance fraudsters are netting hundreds of millions of pounds a year at the expense, and risk, of innocent road users.
Working in organised crime rings, the fraudsters use the proceeds of these shams to fund drug deals, immigration fraud and, it has been suggested, even to finance Muslim extremist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sue Baker, head of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, the body charged with investigating these cases, commented: "This is not just a crime where greedy people are lining their own pockets and driving around in flash cars and buying nice houses. It's the more sinister uses to which the money is being put."
The scam works by fraudsters deliberately engineering car crashes with other vehicles. They will often travel in close proximity to another car then suddenly slam on their breaks in such a way that makes it impossible for the driver of the vehicle behind to avoid a direct collision. Then, by claiming against the driver’s car insurance they receive a payout; often boosting the sum by feigning injuries such as whiplash.
Said to be the most serious systematic fraud problem currently faced by insurance companies, counterfeit cash for crash claims cost the insurance industry over £200million each year. Furthermore, this cost is directly passed on to car insurance customers, bumping up the average annual premium by an estimated £50.
Police have warned that vigilance is needed as a wave of this potentially fatal crime spreads across the country. As, while 13 members of a cash for crash gang were convicted for their crimes in Hertfordshire last week, with a further 20 individuals arrested in the London area during July, law enforcement agencies have barely scratched the surface.
The Insurance Fraud Bureau are now pushing for changes to the law that will enable them to share data with other government agencies such as HM Revenue & Customs. While controversial the IFB claim these modifications are essential if they are to tackle the very real threat to public safety that this crime poses.
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