Crash for cash fraud numbers drop

The cost of crash for cash fraud has dropped by almost £60 million in the last three years, according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB).

Statistics from the IFB indicate an overall decline in crash for cash scams, with total incidents involving such false claims valued at £336 million in 2015. In 2012, they were estimated to have cost the insurance industry £392 million.

However the IFB has reported an increase in different types of motor scams and organised fraud being investigated in other areas of insurance, including ‘slip and trips’, noise-induced hearing loss and household property claims.

Ben Fletcher, the director of the IFB, said that although the figures proved that insurers and the police were “closing the net” on car accident fraudsters, there was still lots of work to be done.

“Fuelled by greed, insurance cheats still put innocent members of the public in grave danger when they deliberately cause crashes. We will leave no stone unturned in pursing these fraudsters, securing prison sentences and making our roads safer,” he said.

Since the IFB was set-up in 2006, the Bureau has assisted with over 1,110 arrests, securing prison sentences totalling over 340 years for criminals orchestrating ‘crash for cash’ scams. In recent months, the IFB has increased investigations in other lines of organised insurance fraud.

The IFB is currently investigating over 135 operations into organised motor fraud valued in excess of £125 million and is working with the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department and police forces across the UK to develop intelligence and gather evidence on fraud rings.

Mark Dugdale