The authorities are getting to grips with criminals who stage
accidents in order to con insurance companies, a lawyer has
revealed.
Richard Deering, a solicitor in the Birmingham office of DLA
Piper, said the system was closing in on such fraudsters.
He noted: "In times of recession, fraudulent claims
increase.
"They may arise from the exaggeration of symptoms of pain and
disability to boost general damages or from the one-off
opportunistic claim from an accident which never happened.
"Lately, attention has focused on a third category of claim
where an incident, usually a traffic accident, is staged or
induced, the damage being caused deliberately and arranged by an
organised crime ring."
In one case a man was jailed for four-and-a-half years after
admitting conspiracy to defraud, dangerous driving and driving
while disqualified. He had been behind 93 separate accidents, where
he would inexplicably slam on his brakes, causing the driver behind
to hit his car. The series of incidents was estimated to have cost
insurers £1.6 million.
And there were two further instances of the courts getting tough
- the High Court allowing contempt proceedings to be brought
against a motorist and his wife who allegedly lied about injuries
to gain more compensation, and a taxi driver's contempt of court,
exposed following covert surveillance by insurers.
Mr Deering said: "In the last six years, there are estimated to
have been 22,000 staged/induced accidents, each having the
potential to result in claims worth £30,000.
"The good news is that with the combined efforts of insurers and
legal practitioners, the justice system is closing in on
fraudsters.
"It is hoped that this top-down approach to detection and
avoidance will ultimately see a reduction in the increasing
prevalence of induced accidents and their cost to the industry, but
for now it at least sends a very clear message - fraudsters,
beware."
Insurers had begun to embed fraud detection within all areas of
claims handling, and training staff to look out for the
indicators.
Drivers too were being made aware from the outset of the risk of
becoming a victim and the danger signs to spot.
Mr Deering cautioned: "Key indicators include the alleged
accident happening at night when there are relatively few witnesses
to account for it, and young parties, multiple passengers, and
vehicles of relatively low value involved in the claims.
"It is also often the case that there will be a solitary
attendance at a GP to provide a 'contemporaneous' record.
Afterwards, and despite the severity of the alleged injuries,
claimants may not have engaged in physiotherapy, or any other means
of mitigating their injuries."