Markerstudy and its law firm, DWF, have secured convictions against a fraudulent claimant and the man who acted as a decoy to carry out a crash-for-cash scam.
Mohammed Iqbal and Kasim Javed were sentenced to 10 months and two months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the scam, following a trial in Manchester.
The attempted fraud was foiled by the immediate suspicions of Markerstudy’s policyholder, who brought the incident to the attention of the insurer.
The incident took place on a roundabout in Bradford, when the motorist followed two vehicles, a Vauxhall Astra driven by Iqbal and a Toyota Avensis that was subsequently found to have been driven by Javed.
The two vehicles were travelling side by side when the Avensis suddenly sought to undertake the Astra, drifting into its lane. But the Astra’s driver performed an emergency stop, resulting in a collision.
The policyholder was concerned that he may have been the victim of a crash-for-cash scam and after exchanging details, drove to an address in Bradford eventually given to him after Iqbal tried to give a false address in Nottingham.
When he arrived, he saw the same Avensis that had undertaken the Astra parked outside Iqbal’s address. He then called the police and while on the phone, Iqbal’s Astra arrived and parked near the Avensis.
Once the policyholder contacted Markerstudy, the insurer began investigating the incident as it had also received claims for personal injury, credit hire and vehicle damage from Iqbal.
Allan Peak, head of technical fraud at Markerstudy, welcomed the policyholder’s intervention, saying: “This is an excellent example of both the effectiveness of the industry’s fraud awareness campaign and the diligence on the part of our customer.”
“Because of the policyholder’s awareness and quick thinking, we have been able to detect this attempted fraud, ensure the perpetrators have been justly punished and helped to protect the public in general from the dangerous menace of crash for cash scams.”
Benedict Harper of DWF’s fraud and financial crime team added: “The incredible actions of the insured led to the insurance company being able to identify the ‘decoy’ vehicle, which is extremely rare, and the two men responsible being behind bars. Crash-for-cash scams put innocent members of the public in danger.”
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