‘Don’t fall foul of the crash-for-cash cheats’

Staff at Auto Pioneering Technology, in Gaugemaster Way, have launched their own awareness campaign in an effort to deter the criminals before they can strike in the Littlehampton area.

It follows in the wake of figures released by one of the UK’s biggest car insurers, Aviva, last month, which showed the number of crash-for-cash claims from fraudsters went up by more than 50 per cent nationally last year.

Sam Hughes, of Auto Pioneering Technology, said: “What these criminals do is disgusting. It’s fraud at the end of the day. But not only that, it’s a serious danger and risk to other drivers.

“These fraudsters aren’t just dealing with a car, they ‘re dealing with a life.

We really want to do our best to raise awareness of this crime so people don’t get caught out by it. It can cost people hundreds – sometimes thousands – of pounds.”

The fraudsters often stage bogus road traffic accidents and then claim to insurers they were the victims.

They target innocent motorists who get caught up in crash-for-cash incidents.

Usually, in road traffic accidents where one vehicle is hit from behind by another, it is the driver of the car behind who is deemed to be at fault.

So, in a crash-for-cash incident, a car may brake suddenly in front of the unknowing victim, leaving them with little chance but to run into the back of them.

Sam said his company is offering state-of-the-art dashboard cameras which they install in cars and commercial vehicles.

He says that theses can often act as a deterrent to criminal gangs intent on committing insurance fraud.

“When these gangs see these cameras they know not to target you,” he said. “If they do, you’ve got concrete proof you weren’t in the wrong.”

Ben Fletcher, Insurance Fraud Bureau’s (IFB) director is supportive of the campaign.

He said: “Sadly we see crash-for-cash scams all too often and at the IFB we currently have over 80 current looking specifically at organised gangs undertaking this activity. While there are particular hotspots around the UK, crash-for-cash fraudsters could strike anywhere.

“The best advice for drivers is to look out for erratic driving behaviour and make sure that you leave plenty of time and space to react if you need to. If you’re unlucky enough to be involved in a collision and you’re at all suspicious it’s important that you take a note of as much information as you can, take photos if you are able and contact the police if you suspect it’s an attempt at fraud.”

For details about a dashboard camera, call 01903 885056. To report a crash-for-cash incident, call the IFB on 0800 422 0421.