Car insurance coverage fraud – by the coach-load

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

Liam Gray, Ben Carberry and Kevin Hamilton were jailed for organising a deliberate crash among the coach and a auto driven by Hamilton in a bid to make fraudulent insurance coverage claims.

The aim of the scam was to claim close to £150,000 in fake private injury claims produced by the 30 men and women on the coach.

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

What occurred?

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

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

Even so, he pulled over right after getting 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 following they mentioned they felt as well unwell to go on with the trip, even though the damage to the 2 cars was superficial.

And he watched them run across the road to the pub – regardless of 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 given the coach driver’s take on events.

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

Its investigation established that Gray had purchased the Renault involved in the collisions, along with insurance coverage 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 buddies. The reality they have been putting 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 several of the fraudulent claims related to deliberate collisions in which criminals “crash for cash”.

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

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

What is being accomplished about it?

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

This new regime seems to be getting the preferred impact. The amount claimed in private injury cases has fallen by 33% year-on-year to £238 million, according to a recent report from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

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

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

Car insurance coverage fraud – by the coach-load