A crook who staged nearly 100 car crashes to swindle insurers has finally faced justice – and a four and a half year jail term. The man made around £46,000 and cost the insurance industry a staggering £1.6million, a court heard. He was paid £500 a time by fraudsters to drive their cars, brake hard and let innocent motorists crash into them. He would then claim to be a ‘victim’, allowing his partners to claim an average of £17,000 from insurance firms.
The court heard how this pattern of fraud financed a luxurious lifestyle for him and his girlfriend, paying for expensive holidays, cars and clothes. The prosecutor told the court that the man drove cars onto a roundabout and then stopped abruptly, making it impossible for the vehicle behind to avoid a collision. He would then present himself as the victim of the accident and claim compensation for whiplash injuries, damage to the car and the costs of hiring a replacement vehicle. He was finally arrested after being observed staging two accidents. In total it is thought that he staged at least 92 crashes between 2005 and 2008.
The fact that this case has resulted in a lengthy jail term for the so-called ‘victim’ proves that both the Police and the insurance companies are now starting to take accident claim fraud very seriously. The cost to the insurance companies is inevitably passed on to other motorists in the form of increased premiums, as well as the trauma to the real victims, the colossal amount of Police time needed to carry out the investigation and the bad press generated yet again about whiplash injuries.
Whiplash is the most common reason for a compensation claim after a road traffic accident, with 1,200 cases being brought every day to the attention of whiplash claims specialists. It is inevitable that some of these claims are less than genuine, but claims specialists often have difficulty sorting the genuine claims from the fraudulent ones. However, cases like this are set to become much rarer, as new guidelines for both medical and legal experts as to what constitutes whiplash have finally been accepted as admissible by the courts. It is hoped that these guidelines will ensure that those who have a genuine claim for whiplash injuries get the compensation they deserve and that justice can once again be seen to be done.
The hefty prison term passed down on the fraudster should also act as a warning to anyone thinking of ‘trying their luck’ and bringing a fraudulent claim for whiplash. It is a clear indication that the Police are taking the issue far more seriously than in previous years. The cost to the insurance industry and the medical profession runs into millions of pounds every year – money that could be better spent in treating those who have been genuinely injured in road traffic accidents.
Not only are fraudulent cases for whiplash illegal – they also tie up the courts who could be dealing with genuine cases and making sure that those injured in real traffic incidences get the compensation they deserve. Perhaps now, with a clear message being sent out that fraudulent claims will not be tolerated and will face the full force of the law if uncovered, greater emphasis can be placed on clearing the horrific backlog of genuine cases still waiting to be settled.