Cameras fitted after insurance bills soar
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By Chris Tindall A TEESSIDE haulage company, which saw its insurance premiums double in a year due in part to crash-for-cash incidents, has itted surveillance cameras to its entire leet.
Scott Brothers Haulage said its decision to use cameras was made after its last insurance quote topped £250,000. The move has already led to recorded footage of a near-miss on the A66 that could have led to another payout. Transport manager Peter Scott said: “With these cameras, we can argue the case. Previously we had to argue on paper in claim forms. The insurance irms generally favour the cars.
“I have absolutely no idea what would possess a person to do that. We run eight-wheel tippers, which can be up to 36-tonnes when laden. It’s a big unit to get hit by.” Scott said its insurer has paid for the cameras to be itted to 20 tippers and its leet of sweepers. They are hard-wired into the irm’s GPS tracking system, providing it with an exact speed of a vehicle if an accident occurs.
Andrew Drewary, director at accident investigation irm First Legal Support, said a number of insurers offer this service to haulage companies: “To a degree, the cameras do reduce the effects of these staged accidents, but they won’t do away with or cut fraud completely.”