Auto insurance coverage fraud – by the coach-load

The 3 men behind a crash-for-money fraud involving a coachload of individuals have been sent to prison for a total of 29 months.

Liam Gray, Ben Carberry and Kevin Hamilton had been jailed for organising a deliberate crash amongst the coach and a car driven by Hamilton in a bid to make fraudulent insurance claims.

The aim of the scam was to claim close to £150,000 in fake individual injury claims made by the 30 people on the coach.

But the plan began to unravel when the coach driver – who was not in on the fraud – raised the alarm…

What happened?

The accident amongst Hamilton’s automobile and the coach, which was transporting 30 men and women to Belle Vue dog track in Manchester, took place in December 2011.

It involved Hamilton hitting the coach from behind at a roundabout at a junction of the M57. The impact was so slight that the coach driver did not even notice it had occurred.

Even so, he pulled over soon after becoming told by passengers that a Renault Megane had ploughed into the back of his car.

He also delivered the passengers to a pub in Bootle soon after they said they felt also unwell to go on with the trip, even even though the harm to the 2 autos was superficial.

And he watched them run across the road to the pub – despite their “injuries”.

How did they get caught?

The 30 coach crash whiplash claims received by Service Underwriting, acting on behalf of Mulsanne Insurance coverage, raised suspicions – particularly provided the coach driver’s take on events.

The firm therefore referred the case to the City of London Police’s Insurance coverage Fraud Enforcement Division (IFED).

Its investigation established that Gray had bought the Renault involved in the collisions, along with insurance for Hamilton, and that Carberry had arranged and paid for the coach.

Det Sgt Mark Forster at IFED stated: “This was a meticulously planned crime by a group of pals. The truth they were placing lives at threat by causing a crash on a busy motorway did not hold them back.”

What is “crashing for cash”?

Insurance fraud shot up by 18% in 2013, pushing the total to a record £1.3 billion, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

And a lot of of the fraudulent claims connected to deliberate collisions in which criminals “crash for cash”.

Whiplash claims – genuine as nicely as exaggerated and bogus ones – are thoughts to add around £90 a year to the cost of car insurance.

Some £50 of that figure is the outcome of fraudulent claims.

What is being completed about it?

Laws introduced last year aim to slash the number of fraudulent whiplash claims by stopping “ambulance-chasing” lawyers getting referral fees and creating claimants who are discovered to be dishonest pay their personal expenses.

This new regime seems to be getting the desired effect. The quantity claimed in individual injury situations has fallen by 33% year-on-year to £238 million, according to a current report from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Just last month, an Aviva claimant found to have been dishonest was also ordered to pay his own court expenses.

If you suspect you have been involved in or observed a “crash for cash” incident, you can report it to the Insurance Fraud Bureau by calling its confidential Cheatline on 0800 422 0421.

Auto insurance coverage fraud – by the coach-load