Man jailed after £100,000 crash for cash plot involving Aston Martin

Three men have been sentenced following an unsuccessful crash for cash plot that involved an Aston Martin.

According to police, the scam, which occurred in 2018, could have cost LV= General Insurance £102,827.

On 4 May that year, a Peugeot 208 driven by Nicholas Ralph collided with an Aston Martin DB9, driven by Edwin White.

White, of Dibden Lane, Tewkesbury, contacted his insurer, Direct Line Group (DLG), to report that the Peugeot had hit a pothole in the road and swerved into the Aston Martin’s path.

He claimed that he swerved to try and avoid the car, which resulted in his car hitting a wall and a post.

The 65-year-old also stated that he had paid £59,995 for the Aston Martin and had bought it in a very good condition.

Meanwhile, Ralph, 67, of Station Road, Cheltenham, contacted his insurer, LV=, to report the collision and claim for damage to the Peugeot.

Both Ralph and White alleged that they did not know each other.

White also told DLG that he had found the contact details of a third party, Clive Moore, who had witnessed the collision.

Moore, 51, of Hanham Road, Bristol, was interviewed by LV=, during which he stated that he had been driving behind the Aston Martin and witnessed the collision.

Inconsistencies 

LV= settled Ralph’s claim for £6,300 and it also received an invoice worth a total of £42,832 for car hire charges.

However, inconsistencies started to emerge when examinations commissioned by the insurers showed that the inside of the Aston Martin was in poor condition, despite White’s claim.

The insurers also found that the garage where White purchased the Aston Martin did not routinely sell vehicles at such a high price.

And an investigation concluded that the damage to the Peugeot was not consistent with it hitting a pothole.

Meanwhile, when LV= made enquiries with White’s bank, it could not trace the £59,995 transaction for the Aston Martin.

Due to the concerns it had around the validity of the claims, LV= cancelled Ralph’s insurance policy and asked him to repay the £6,300 he had received in compensation.

The following day, White was told that his claim had been rejected.

Sentence

A jury at Gloucester Crown Court found the men guilty of fraud by false representation and perverting the course of justice following a three-week trial in August 2024.

They were sentenced at the same court on 19 December 2024.

White was sentenced to 18 months in jail, while Ralph was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He must also pay £6,300 compensation to LV= and a fine of £1,000.

Meanwhile, Moore was handed a nine-month community order. He must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay a £1,000 fine.

Detective sergeant Chris Jones, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (Ifed), said: “Cases like this demonstrate the greed of insurance fraudsters and the measures they will take for financial gain.

“Crash for cash fraud pushes up the cost of insurance premiums for the public.

“An average of over £1.3m worth of bogus motor insurance claims were detected each day in 2023, showing that insurance fraud doesn’t go unnoticed by the industry or law enforcement. We will work collaboratively to bring fraudsters to justice, as this case shows.”