Gangs are deliberately braking hard in front of lorries to cause rear-end shunts, so they can claim the insurance. Be warned.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17647209%26metho...l
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Obviously a quiet day at the Mirror;
>>Because each claim is only about £500 or £600, it slips under the radar of the regulatory authority checks.
Vs.
>>In March alone, one gang received £14,500 for personal injury claims.
All in all this has been a tabloid repeat story on and off over the last 5 or 6 years. Not saying it never happens, but please - A car getting hit 10 times in a night by a truck ? Oh yeah, he'll be roaring around the streets.
Reactionary nonsense.
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yeah tell me about it.
the mirror, a very upstanding journalist, doing his duty, watching all these dangerous actions on high speed roads, yet never calling the police.
and the scam involves trucks running into cars! not the usual scms with cars running in to cars at roundabouts or in traffic jams.
and the "6 ft asian" risking the life of his mates for the sake of a few quid.
very pluasible story indeed.
i believe it 1,0000,000% , yes truly i do.
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Heh... so they use the Hangar Lane exit of the A40 do they? Maybe I'll pop out tonight and watch the carnage.
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Is this the link?
tinyurl.com/zh5s7
Shorter isn't it?
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Same story re warmed for the commuters in tonight's Standard. Could not reconcile the sub £600 claim figures with the hugely distorted ex Avensis involved in one of the accidents.
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Very nice of the papers to publicise an easy way for the scrotes to make a few quid.
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Robin Reliant, formerly known as Tom Shaw
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It's been going on in an informal manner for years. You have a light, no-fault shunt with a lone driver in a beaten up old car, and by the time their insurance company gets in contact with you the car is a write-off and there were seventeen passengers all of whom now have whiplash and eight "impartial" witnesses have all come forward to say that you were driving at 300mph and stopping every now and again to do some donuts across the carriageway.
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It's been going on in an informal manner for years.
Very definitely, it was a suggestion made to me as an expedient way to dispose of my expiring Chevette. I managed to sell it instead. That was in 1992, and i'm sure people have been doing it since motor insurance became compulsory.
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On a similar vein, there was an item on Jeremy Vine, Radio 2 last year on insurance scams. A bus in Liverpool was involved in a collision with a car. When the police turned up they were surprised to see the bus was full during a quiet period of the day. Before asking all the passengers for their names and addresses they pointed out that the bus was fitted with CCTV and would show who was actually onboard at the time of the accident.
Thirteen people immediately stood up and got off the bus.
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Robin Reliant, formerly known as Tom Shaw
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There are so many 'gangs' doing insurance scamming it's unbelievable.
The only way to protect yourself as much as you can is to stop passers-by after an accident and request their details as a witness.
Even if they only witnessed the aftermath they can verify such information as the amount of passengers were in a vehicle.
I work in insurance and the amount of times we receive injury claims for 3/4 passengers but our insured driver says there was (for arguments sake) only 1 is unbelievable.
Do anything you can to ensure you have a good stance after an accident, especially if you're at fault. Carry a camera in your glovebox to take pictures. Failing that, take pictures of all those involved with your mobile phone or anything.
Oh and if you only ever get one piece of information make it their number plate. We're forever getting claims where people have taken a piece of paper with the other driver's insurance details, just to find out they've given them incorrect information.
Remember your insurers can search under the motor insurers databse to find the insurer for any registration. Providing, of course, that the driver isn't uninsured.
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(From Mirror article) "The Nissan slammed on its brakes just five yards in front of the lorry, with both vehicles travelling at 40mph."
I'm sorry but although I doubt the article relays the event in full if the speed and distance between the vehicles is even half true then this is in my opinion fairly extreme tailgating for a car let alone a lorry so i've little sympathy with the lorry driver. Althoguh i guess with people suddenly swerving in front of you its difficult to maintain a safe following distance.
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I'd love them to try it on me, I would not bother braking and hope they get whiplash ect. and I would not stop to exchange "details". Either that or call the police before you get out the cab.
There should be rival gangs set up to do exactly this and put these people out of buissness.
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"Sometimes, if cars are only slightly dented in crashes, they will be battered with baseball bats later to boost potential claims."
Not sure about this one. How do they explain it to the insurers? Something like "I was driving along, then all of a sudden a fleet of sports equipment ploughed into my car".
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I'd love them to try it on me, I would not bother braking and hope they get whiplash ect. and I would not stop to exchange "details".
Erm... yeah. So many things wrong with that statement I don't know where to start. Actually, I do. How about here:
I'd love them to try it on me
No you wouldn't
I would not bother braking
Which makes you as much responsible for the "accident" as them
and hope they get whiplash ect
Wounding with intent - nice
and I would not stop to exchange "details"
...which in itself is an offence
...plus overall comments about knee-jerk reactions, vigilantism not being the answer, not sinking to their level and something along the lines of 99% of people you're likely to hit being genuine accidents - imagine how horrified you'd be if someone intentionally slammed into you before screaming off into the sunset. Right - that ought to do for now.
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Apologies. It's late and I'm tired. Didn't mean to snap.
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Sorry, I didn't mean it like the way you put it. I was thinking more in terms of what I'd like to do rather than what I would actually do. It must be fairly easy to spot those trying to pull this scam on you rather than a genuine accident. Ie. the car that randomly swerves for no reason and the car in front reacting in a different way tjan you would expect.
If it did happen I would insist that they wait for the police to arrive.
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Yeah, I realise that. Like I said, I was tired and in a funny mood. My bad.
Not sure how you'd insist they wait for the police if they're determined to drive away, but as has been mentioned above - get as many 3rd parties involved as you can so you can call on them as withesses if you need to. And keep a camera in your glove box - preferably a film one - I feel they offer more authenticity than digital cameras. Take as many photos as you can of the car, it's registration number, your own car, the location and importantly the occupants of the other vehicle.
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Something about this on the gogglebox tonight.
Tonight with Trevor McDonald
8:00pm - 8:30pm
ITV1
VIDEO Plus+: 4817
Subtitles, widescreen
Crash for Cash
This edition reveals how crime gangs who deliberately crash cars on UK roads, are now costing insurance companies almost one billion pounds a year in fraudulent claims. But, as Michael Nicholson reports, with motorists forced to shoulder the burden through higher premiums, as well as the dangers posed to innocent drivers caught up in each accident, this is far from a victimless crime.
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If the insurance companies did their job and checked injuries properly with their own doctor it would stop this very quickly.
To claim for injury you may not have to prove your identity but you DO have top prove there has been an injury. Presumably the claims stick out because there is no claim for repairing the car!
Thinks... Does ayone ever check if the driver was insured, car taxed etc?
Presume the insurers are just too usy taking the easy way out and jacking up the premiums.
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I watched the programme and saw one of the 'accidents' which was caught on camera. Would you volunteer to be rear ended by a tipper truck on a motorway? The guy who did this needs sectioning.
All the ones who had been scammed said they had no time to react to the driver in front slamming on, but the programme didn't give the advice to keep your distance.
Usual advice, keep a camera in the car and photograph everything including everyone who was in the car which was hit.
I think the last story featured a claim against a bus company - the scam being orchestrated by one of it's own drivers, who was caught on CCTV in the depot when the accident was supposed to have happened. It also showed CCTV from a bus taken late at night. Car cuts in front of bus and slams on, bus swerves and misses the car, car then reappears to have another go.
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I have an elderly friend who stepped out in front of a bus which was, fortunately, only travelling at a slow speed.
My friend wasn't hurt, just a bit shaken, but now the bus driver has given notice he intends to claim because he is suffering from whiplash.
Blame the Americans for the compensation culture malaise that has sprung up in the UK.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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To my knowledge, a London Police Force (yes, there are 2) is investigating organised car insurance fraud. In addition, I am aware that the FSA gave the insurance industry a boot up its backside when it tried to put premiums up to cover fraud costs. The industry was told to employ fraud investigators instead. Guess where old retired fraud squad officers end up to supplement their pension?
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