Bradford & District | Archive | 2005 | August | 17
From the archive, first published Wednesday 17th Aug 2005.
Bradford has become a hotbed for car insurance fraudsters operating as organised crime rings.
Gangs are staging car `accidents' in a bid to defraud insurers out of thousands of pounds, pushing up premiums for honest drivers in the district.
More than 30 cases across Bradford and Leeds are being investigated by police after they were alerted by insurance companies.
Detective Inspector John Armitage, of Bradford South CID, said the investigation was in its early stages.
But it seemed that two types of `accidents' were being staged by the gangs.
One involved deliberately causing accidents by braking hard in front of other vehicles at junctions.
The other was where insurance cheats delivered their car to the crime rings who then smashed them up so they could make claims.
Det Insp Armitage said: "The insurance companies have contacted us and said this is what they think is happening. They have asked us to look at about 30 cases.
"We have had a meeting with representatives of the insurance companies. They have provided us with documents and we are looking at them with the fraud squad to see if there is any evidence."
Det Insp Armitage said one example of insurance fraud they were examining involved a Toyota Celica which was claimed to have been written off twice in two weeks in different accidents with different drivers and insurance companies.
He said Bradford appeared to have a particular problem with this type of insurance fraud.
He said: "The insurance companies are saying the people involved in the scam will be involved in other sorts of crimes.
"We have no information about the people allegedly involved which links them to organised crime, but it is an organised crime type of offence in that they are making a business out of it."
Insurers say the fraudsters are not only pushing up insurance premiums for Bradford's honest drivers but also endangering innocent people's lives in deliberate crashes.
Counter-fraud manager for Royal & Sun Alliance, John Beadle, said: "The M62 corridor is acknowledged as a hot bed for these kinds of rings and Bradford is among those places where it's predominantly happening.
"The industry is now aware of this and is trying to tackle what is clearly an organised criminal activity. It's not the odd individual. Our belief is that it's part of an organised crime racket.
"Insurers are wise to this and the people who are involved in this should not be working on the assumption we are not onto them."
Criminals employ a variety of tactics to defraud insurers ranging from targeting innocent drivers to damaging cars behind closed doors in lock-ups.
In other cases `accidents' are agreed between co-conspirators using hire cars.
Mr Beadle said: "These are a massive problem to all insurers and they are dangerous. We know in some places they are targeting commercial vehicles such as petrol tankers."
The extent of the financial cost is still unknown but honest drivers are footing the bill.
"The M62 corridor is statistically the worst area in the country for this," said Mr Beadle. "It ultimately costs everyone money in the North because if you live in that area it's inevitable your insurance premiums will go up."
Last December it was revealed unsuspecting motorists were facing claims of thousands of pounds for whiplash injuries after a number of staged `accidents' between the Bingley relief road roundabout and the Magnet roundabout at Crossflatts.
And last month a national newspaper claimed an accident claims company in Bradford was arranging car crashes for clients as part of an insurance rip off. Police are waiting to receive a dossier on the claims.
Insurance fraud investigator Mark Jones said staging a minibus accident was "all too easy." Most claims were for £3,000 to £5,000, though some were as high as £30,000, he said.
Insurers are now working together to tackle the problem.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has set up a specialist phone-line where people can report suspected fraudulent insurance claims.
ABI spokesman John French said: "We would encourage insurance companies who believe there is a possibility that a fraudulent claim is being made to contact the police."
They can report a suspected fraudulent insurance claim by calling 0800 328 2550.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008