First time both fraudulent claimant and decoy driver jailed in such a case
Two men have been jailed for their part in a ‘crash for cash’ scam against insurer Markerstudy, thought to be the first time that both a fraudulent claimant and a decoy vehicle driver have been sentenced to prison.
The incident occurred at a roundabout in Bradford where a Toyota Avensis driver tried to undertake an Astra, which subsequently performed an emergency stop.
An innocent third party insured with Markerstudy following behind was involved in a collision and exchanged insurance details with the accused.
The insured’s suspicions were raised when the other party tried to provide a false address, and he reported his concerns to the police.
Markerstudy also took up the case having received a vehicle damage, credit hire and personal injury claim from the accused driver.
Mohammed Iqbal and Kasim Javed were both found guilty for their roles in the crash for cash scam, and were sentenced to 10 and two months’ prison respectively.
Rare
Markerstudy’s head of technical fraud Allan Peak commented that the outcome was “an excellent example of both the effectiveness of the industry’s fraud awareness campaign and the diligence on the part of our customer.
“Because of the policyholder’s awareness and quick thinking, we have been able to detect this attempted fraud, ensure the perpetrators have been justly punished and helped to protect the public in general from the dangerous menace of crash for cash scams.”
While DWF fraud and financial crime team member Benedict Harper praised “the incredible actions of the insured led to the insurance company being able to identify the ‘decoy’ vehicle, which is extremely rare, and the two men responsible being behind bars.”
Last month three men were jailed for carrying out a ‘crash for cash’ plan on a motorway slip road in Coventry, while in January an organised crime group of 16 people from Luton who ran a crash for cash scam operation worth almost £1.2m were sentenced to a total of 32 years and 11 months.
In May, Insurance Times reported that the value of fraudulent claims fell by 11% (£10m) last year, but the scale of insurance fraud is still substantial, according to Aviva.
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