Hauliers hit by staged accidents
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By Chris Tindall HAULAGE OPERATORS are being warned not to fall victim to criminal gangs who set up staged collisions with HGVs in order to make fraudulent insurance claims.
Insurer Axa says the so-called “crash for cash” scams are a nationwide problem that is costing the insurance industry hundreds of millions of pounds every year.
According to Axa, the high-risk strategy of targeting trucks is seen as worthwhile because CVs are guaranteed to be insured, and their drivers tend not to contend the circumstances in the same way car owners might. However, the incidents are putting many lives at risk and can traumatise drivers.
Fleet risk solution company Interactive Driving Systems (IDS) says a recent industry forum highlighted how liveried vehicles in particular are being chosen by criminals to crash into. The common method of inducing crashes is to slam on the brakes in front of an HGV so that the driver has little choice but to collide with the back of the vehicle.
“It is a problem for operators of HGVs,” says Richard Davies, Axa group fraud risk manager. “Our impression is that it’s increasing. It’s still a problem in the north west of England; Liverpool is re-emerging as a hotspot after being quiet for a few years. But it is not a regional problem, it is a national problem. All insurers are deinitely concerned about this.” ● See CM 12 May for a full investigation into ‘crash for cash’ scams.