'Cash for crash' - AA Insurance calls for greater protection
Published by Rebecca Harty
AA Car Insurance has welcomed a new initiative aimed at protecting drivers from so called 'cash for crash' scams.
The BBC recently reported on the case of 24 year old Mohammed Patel who was jailed for four and a half years for deliberately causing at least 93 car crashes over a three year period. Patel charged £500 a time for staging accidents.
The Metropolitan Police have now established a specialist unit to train officers to spot suspicious collisions that may have been staged to enable bogus personal injury claims to be made.
Simon Douglas, director of AA Car Insurance commented that "similar specialist units in other police forces could better protect drivers throughout the UK from such activity".
Douglas added "the recession has encouraged more people to make fraudulent insurance claims, quite apart from staged accidents of this sort".
AA Car Insurance state that the best way to avoid being caught up in a 'cash for crash' scam is to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you.
ABI figures show that fraudulent claims add around £44 to the cost of every insurance policy.
