Industry News from Yes Insurance

Gangs of criminals are making up to £2 million a year through staged car crashes.

Four gangs in the south-east of England have been uncovered by the Daily Mirror as they take to the roads with the deliberate intention of causing mayhem.

The scam works by intentionally targeting a vehicle, getting in front of it and slamming on the brakes.

When the following vehicle cannot stop in time and hits the gang's motor they make a claim on the other driver's car insurance.

To make things seems more realistic, a second gang member will swerve in front before the brakes are hit, creating the illusion that an accident has occurred.

The gangs tend to target articulated lorries as these are slower at performing emergency stops, cause greater damage and because they are company owned, claims are a lot more straight forward.

The con is anything but a victimless crime, with every staged crash running the risk of killing or seriously injuring other road users.

The Mirror found that gangs were generally making claims below £600 but the shear quantity of claims is making the gangs a lot of money.

The newspaper's undercover reporter revealed that in March alone one gang made £14,500 from the con.

Industry figures are calling for something to be done about fraudulent claims with the Association of British Insurers demanding that "a new approach" needs to be implemented.

A system called the Insurance Fraud Bureau, which allows insurers to share information on suspicious claims, was set up in June.

© Adfero Ltd