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Motorists stage crashes to claim cash
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Cash-strapped motorists are being driven to extreme measures: one million Brits admit they’d consider staging an accident in order to claim on their insurance
A new survey by price comparison site moneysupermarket.com has revealed that a worrying 1,020,000 motorists have considered crashing their car to engineer an insurance claim, while 340,000 admit to having done so already.
This may sound like a good idea for making some quick cash, but the consequences are far more serious: you’d be committing fraud.
The insurance industry has categories for this kind of motor insurance fraud. They are as follows:
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• “Staged” motor accidents – when two vehicles deliberately knock into each other in order to claim on insurance
• “Contrived” motor accidents – a fabricated claim for a motor incident that never took place
• “Induced” motor accidents – a deliberate action by a motorist to force an innocent driver to crash into them, such as braking suddenly so they’re hit from behind
“Desperate times do often call for desperate measures, but surely this is a step too far for British motorists,” said head of motor insurance at moneysupermaket.com, Steve Sweeney. “We have all been affected by the recession in one way or another but crashing for cash is not only illegal but wilfully endangers the lives of others.”
Worth the risk?
The research found that 5% of male drivers, compared to 2% of women, were likely to have staged a motor accident; 3% of twentysomethings had successfully made a fraudulent motor claim, and 6% of people in that age bracket would consider it. Region by region, London motorists were the riskiest, with 6% of them either having committed motor fraud or open to the idea.
While staging an accident may appear tempting in the short term, according to the Association of British Insurers, fraudulent insurance claims cost the industry more than £4m every day and add nearly £40 to the average annual premium paid by honest policy holders.
If caught, the knock-on affects of any fraudulent claim on the policy holder are more far-reaching. Sweeney explains: “Any motor insurance claim proved to involve an organised accident will be considered as fraudulent by an insurer, and is likely to have drastic, long-term affects on your motoring as a consequence. If found guilty, an official ‘fraud mark’ could be added to your licence; this will prompt your insurer to void existing cover and probably refuse you cover in the future.”
With the credit crunch still taking its toll on our finances, the thought of getting your hands on some extra cash may be very tempting, but it really isn’t worth the risk.
Published 2 October 2009
