12 January 2007 / by None
Invented and ‘inflated’ insurance claims cost insurance firms over £1.5 billion a year, Royal &Sun; Alliance statistics show.
Moreover, the burden of these phoney motor insurance claims fell on the honest insurance customer – with policyholders paying five per cent more to compensate.
The phenomenon of ‘staging’ or deliberately provoking a motor accident to make a claim for the damage is growing, says R&SA; – since 1999, there have been over 22,500 fraudulent, staged or induced motor accidents.
Yet 41 per cent of British drivers surveyed said they had never heard of staged accidents and half would not know how to proceed if they suspected they had been involved in an intentional collision.
“Staged motor accidents are on the rise and are potentially extremely dangerous”, commented R&SA;’s UK counter-fraud manager.
“Tell-tale signs” included “people braking suddenly … for no apparent reason or otherwise driving erratically”, he indicated.
The insurer is urging those who suspect they may have been a victim of a staged motor accident to take evidence by photographing the driver, passengers and vehicle, and to try to find witnesses.