Crashes set up for whiplash claims
MPs in the house commons heard today that the number of staged
crashes is predicted to rise from 1,000 three years ago to 2,500 in the year 2010.
Tempted by lucrative payouts for personal injury claims for injuries such as whiplash, a number of gangs around the country have been setting up fake car accidents in order to make a claim on the innocent driver's insurance.
Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill is warning motorists to be on their guard for scams like this. The innocent driver could see their insurance premium rocket if a successful claim for whiplash injury is made against them.
The criminals who stage these crashes are making thousands of pounds in fraudulent whiplash claims every year.
A common trick which these gangs carry out is to remove the brake lights from their vehicle, causing the following driver to crash into the back of their car.
They often set up the accidents in poorly lit streets after dusk, ensuring that visibility is at a minimum. Some will have an associate seemingly unknown to them act as a witness to ensure that the claim goes through.
Others simply suddenly and unnecessarily brake, causing the innocent driver of the car behind to career into the back of their car.
Some choose to slowly pull off a roundabout or slip road before performing a dangerous and sudden emergency stop for no reason, again causing the following car to crash into the back of their car.
A number of gangs which carry out these types of crimes operate without involving the outside influence of an innocent driver, but there is less cost and less risk involved in causing an unwitting outsider to violently crash.
After the accident they will make claims not only for the damage caused to their car, but will frequently claim to be suffering from severe whiplash, a condition which is common in rear end collisions and lends itself rather well to the situation due to the trickiness of accurate diagnosis.
A whiplash claim can be worth thousands of pounds in personal injury compensation, in addition to compensation for lost earnings and medical expenses not covered by the NHS.
Mr Goodwill, conservative spokesman for transport issues said: There are not many crimes where someone doesn't know about it but this could be the case in these crashes."
He said: "In the main it is a problem in some of the big conurbations but no-one is exempt.
"Motorists in Scarborough should be on their guard as to whether a minor accident they were involved in was genuine or a staged crash to pursue an insurance claim.
"It is important they are aware of these scams and if they have any suspicion that an accident they have been involved in is a scam they should contact the police as well as their insurance company. The scale of it is quite phenomenal."
The insurance fraud bureau estimates that these fraudulent claims cost in the region of £1.5 billion per year, which adds around 5 per cent to the average persons cover.
Updated on 6/13/2008