Ghost broking awareness campaign launched

The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) has launched a ghost broking awareness campaign.

The campaign, which also involves the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) and crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers, began today with an animated video warning young motorists about being ripped off by fraudsters selling fake car insurance.

Ghost brokers typically prey on those paying the highest premiums, which are usually young male drivers, by offering cheap deals online or in person.

The video has been launched across social media channels including Facebook and YouTube. It follows a crackdown on ghost broking by IFED which has led to the arrest of 27 suspected ghost brokers.

IFED deputy head detective inspector Dominic Parkin said: “Ghost broking is a nationwide problem which is now being met by a national law enforcement response.

“But making arrests and securing convictions is one piece of the puzzle – raising public awareness to prevent the fraudsters from duping young drivers is equally as important.

He added: “The animation is designed to grab young drivers’ attention and quickly inform them about the issue. We have asked police forces, insurers and universities to share it online with the aim to get it watched by as many motorists as possible. In doing this we will make life much more difficult for the fraudsters and easier for the driving public.”

IFB director Ben Fletcher said: “We have enjoyed considerable success working with the police to cut these scams off at source and will continue to identify and pursue fraudsters.

“This video is about reducing the market for these fraudsters to operate in, and emphasises how important it is that drivers shopping for insurance online, or through other means, question what they are being offered to ensure they get a real deal.”

Crimestoppers’ director of operations Roger Critchell added: “Crimestoppers is pleased to be able to work as part of this collaboration and hope that increased awareness of this crime will bring insurance fraud down.

“We work with a number of organisations to tackle various crimes and we hope this campaign will show similar successes to other partnerships we have been a part of.”

AA welcome

Insurance broker AA Insurance, part of the Automobile Association, has welcomed the launch of the awareness campaign. .

AA Insurance director Simon Douglas said: “At a time when car insurance has become fiercely competitive, this is a very nasty type of insurance scam that fleeces vulnerable individuals and leaves them with useless car insurance.”

He added: “If a policy is significantly cheaper than polices available elsewhere, or direct from the insurer’s website, it is probably not legitimate.”