Cops nail gangsters with higher insurance premiums

Police have begun feeding insurance companies information about gangland figures, giving insurers the opportunity to increase premiums, reports the Herald Scotland.

Detectives in Strathclyde are passing on confidential files on gangsters – whether they have been convicted or not – to stop their families cashing in if they die in one of Scotland’s turf wars. They are also understood to be warning motor insurers about individuals who lead criminal lifestyles.

Strathclyde Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton told the Herald: “We have now signed information-sharing protocols with a number of high-profile insurance companies. This even runs to the extent that we let these firms understand the liability they take on when they provide life assurance to somebody involved in criminal activity.

“If a criminal has heavy life assurance then it doesn’t seem right that the rest of us – who have a much lower-risk lifestyle – have to pay for that.”

The assistant chief constable said the police’s new strategy of sharing intelligence with other bodies, such as insurance companies and councils, could have its drawbacks.

“Some of the information we give – because of the how, the where and from whom we got it – can’t be used in court. But that does not mean we should sit on the information and not share it with other legitimate bodies.”

The insurance industry, however, welcomed any information to help it assess risk. Many firms already ask if applicants have any previous convictions, including motoring offences. However, many individuals well-known to the police for their criminal connections will not be flagged up by routine checks.

A spokeswoman for the Association of British Insurers said: “Insurance companies use lifestyle factors to calculate premiums – and being a gangster is a pretty high-risk lifestyle.

“Gangsters would be at a much higher risk of dying than somebody of the same age who did not participate in criminal activity.”

Hamilton declined to name the companies he and his colleagues are passing intelligence to – not least because of the danger of reprisals.