IFED secures conviction against Leicester man who fraudulently claimed on his mother’s car insurance policy

A man who made false claims against his mother’s insurance policy, while extracting cash from customers of his car hire company who were the actual drivers involved in the crashes, has received an 18-month suspended sentence following a City of London Police Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) investigation.

Ahmed Khatib, of Leicester, received an 18-month suspended sentence and 100 hours of community service at Leicester Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation.

The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) investigated a series of insurance claims made by Khatib following a referral from Aviva.

Khatib made two claims for £12,000 and £19,350, alleging that his mother was the sole occupant of the insured vehicle at the time of two crashes.

An IFED investigation discovered that the two claims related to collisions involving cars that were part of Khatib’s car hire company. He would hire the cars to members of the public in the Leicestershire area with a temporary insurance policy.

When the hirer had a genuine crash while in the vehicle, Khatib would make them pay for part of the repair costs by asking for the ‘excess’ contribution.

On top of getting the money from customers, Khatib also attempted to make a financial gain by filing false insurance claims with Aviva. He did this by incepting insurance policies on behalf of his mother for both cars, which included fully comprehensive cover, and then when a customer had a crash when driving one of the cars, he would make a false claim against his mother’s policy.

Detective Sergeant Matthew Hussey of the City of London Police’s IFED, said: “Khatib used his mother’s policy to take advantage of people involved in genuine crashes for his own financial gain.”

“Car insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. Claims like those made by Khatib are responsible for the increasing insurance premiums for innocent members of the public.”

Carl Mather, special investigation unit manager at Aviva, added: “This case shows that the police and insurers are working very closely to detect and prevent insurance fraud. As Mr Khatib now knows, insurers are not a soft target for fraud. The sentence handed down reflects the seriousness of his actions and the commitment by Aviva to uncover and present all available evidence to law enforcement partners.”

“On top of his criminal record, Mr Khatib now faces the prospect of repaying the proceeds of his fraudulent actions, which should serve as a clear warning to others that insurance fraud will not be tolerated by police, insurers or the courts.”

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Mark Dugdale