Eight sentenced for farcical cash for crash scam

Eight men from Cardiff have been sentenced for staging a bus crash so they could claim compensation for fake injuries.

This is the largest number of claimants ever tried together for one Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) cash for crash case.

The group (see below for full list) conspired to commit fraud by driving a rental car into the back of a bus in May 2014, placing members of the public in danger with a farcical attempt to sting AIG.

The driver of the car has been named as Merrick Williams from Barry Island in Wales.

From driving gaffes to social media slides, it was a comedy of errors for the eight fraudsters.

Williams’ first big mistake was a CCTV slip up. This is not the only recent case in which AIG has foiled a fraudulent claim involving a bus crash thanks to CCTV.

In this case the car was seen on CCTV driving past the bus twice before the collision. It eventually hit into the bus at low speed.

When the bus was hit, one of its passengers fell to the floor. He was, however, outnumbered, as the rest did not move at all.

The scam artists attempted to keep up appearances, with some of the men filmed holding their necks and hips after the crash.

However, when the driver of the bus called the police and paramedics to attend, not a single passenger stepped up to report an injury at the time. One of the fraudsters did go to hospital on the day, but he did not stay for long enough to be diagnosed or treated.

AIG later received personal injury claims forms from all the defendants except for the driver of the rental car.

South Wales Police had attended the scene and confirmed that there was minimal damage to the bus. A risk solutions expert then found that passengers would not have suffered more than “minor vibrations” from the impact.

Social media slip-up

The final hurdle for the conniving crew came via social media, when it was discovered that at least two of the claimants were already friends with driver Williams.

Social media has not been a friend to insurance fraudsters as of late. Recently a Doncaster man was caught out over a fraudulent football injury claim when he tried to sue the council.

The driver, Williams, was sentenced to twelve months in prison, while his seven accomplices received suspended sentences and community service. One man, named as Kurt Taylor of Newport, failed to attend court and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

The City of London Police’s detective constable Aman Taylor, who led the IFED investigation, confirmed that the attempted fraud was in a league of its own, as this is the largest number of claimants ever tried together in an IFED case.

Taylor continued: “By planning the bus crash, the men deliberately put the safety of innocent people, including children, at risk in a bid to make money and take advantage of the personal injury claims system.”

“The sentence that has been handed down to these eight men today is a significant example of how seriously we take crimes like this.”

AIG fraud manager David Halstead said: “Insurance fraud impacts all customers. We are extremely grateful to IFED and IFB for their hard work in bringing the perpetrators to justice in this particularly devious case, and we will continue working to support all parties involved in stamping out insurance fraud.”