‘Crash for cash’ continues to rise
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By Chris Tindall INCIDENCES OF ‘crash for cash’, an insurance scam that involves deliberately colliding with lorries in order to make fraudulent insurance claims, are increasing due to tough economic conditions, according to an HGV insurer.
The warning from Bluefin comes as the Met Police confirms that three men arrested in connection with an investigation into staged collisions targeting hauliers have been bailed to return pending further inquiries in July.
An investigation by CM last week (12 May) found that criminals view HGV drivers as easy targets who enable them to net five-figure insurance payouts.
But insurers say the current economic situation is also pushing up the frequency of crash for cash occurrences. “Historically, crime rates have risen during times of economic difficulty and I believe this could be what we are experiencing with the recent rise in crash for cash scams,” says Peter Castle, Bluefin head of customer proposition.
“Spiralling living costs, rising fuel prices and redundancies are pushing people to their financial limit, and sadly some are turning to illegal methods to make ends meet.” Richard Davies, group fraud risk manager at AXA, says: “It’s an incredibly traumatic incident; all [the HGV driver] will know is that he can’t stop and someone is going to get hurt – which is why we are so concerned about crash for cash incidents.”