The high cost of cash for crash could get higher

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has put the cost of the cash for crash epidemic sweeping the UK at £392m a year.

More worrying is the finding that 69,500 (one in seven) personal injury claims have been linked to suspected cash for crash scams, which lead to large losses for insurers.

While increasing effort is being made to smash fraud rings targeting innocent motorists, the IFB’s report aimed at raising awareness of cash for crash reveals a double-edged sword.

As the industry devotes more resources and intelligence to thwarting the claims for staged accidents, the fraudsters behind the wheel are developing new and more sophisticated ways to avoid detection. The scams are being carried out by highly organised criminal gangs who recruit and pay people from local communities to stage accidents.

Also, many gangs typically own, or have links to, professional enablers, including car hire organisations, car repair body shops, motor engineers, doctors and solicitors. This makes it difficult to filter out the legitimate claims from the non-legitimate ones.

Then there are the tactics used by the fraudsters, with some using two vehicles to stage a crash.

Public awareness, the IFB admits, needs to be increased. Research within the report revealed that despite overwhelming public concern, 1 in 12 people would consider taking part in a cash for crash scam for financial gain. That doesn’t bode well for the future.

Police have warned it’s a matter of time before cash for crash causes a road death. In the USA, staged crashes have claimed many lives. The Bureau noted an ongoing case in which five men are on trial accused of causing the death of an innocent young female driver in a suspected cash for crash incident.

While the IFB has made great strides, it has a mammoth task ahead to get to grips with these scams.