Crash curse

BBC Radio 4 ‘In Business’ drew attention to postcode loading by insurance companies, due to huge increases in "crash for cash" insurance fraud scams, very popular in some areas. As you have previously pointed out, this is effectively being aided and abetted by ‘claims handling companies’. The increasing popularity of deliberate emergency stops, for example at roundabouts, provoking a rear-end shunt, followed by, "Oh dear, I've got whiplash", etc., etc. has just been noticed, by, wait for it, Jack Straw, MP for Blackburn, now preaching so solemnly on Radio 4. This activity clearly has nothing to do with the normal driver, when he renews his car insurance. He should not be surcharged, on the basis of local petty crime. Should we lobby our local Police Force, or insurance companies, or our new, improved, coalition MPs?

Asked on 28 November 2011 by GC, Kingston upon Thames

Answered by Honest John

I think ‘cash for crash’ is a red herring. The police are onto this and the leader of one whiplash gang recently got 7 years and had all his property confiscated. It was covered some months ago by a BBC programme entitled 'Cars, Cops and Criminals'. A far more widespread, totally legal scam is credit hire whereby the victims of a crash are approached by 'accident management' outfits that promise to get their car fixed and keep them on the road in an equivalent car in the meantime. These shysters then extend the repair from days to weeks or months and charge 2 - 3 times the standard going rate for the hire car. Bills have been amassed of £27,000, £33,000, and £64,000 to my knowledge. The British Insurance Brokers' Association recently put out a press release with an "8 point plan' to curb the massive increases in car insurance. But conveniently omitted credit hire from the list. Now why do you think they did that? See: www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/tax-insurance-and-warran...s and www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/tax-insurance-and-warran...s (I had to remove some racist remarks from your email.)

Tags: scams technical issues cash for crash

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