News & Features

Crash for Cash Hotspots Revealed

Posted in General News on Thursday, May 20th, 2021

Parts of Birmingham and Bradford make up the top five ‘crash for cash’ hotspots in the UK. Further areas featuring on the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) list include parts of Walsall, Blackburn and Romford. The IFB stated that single gangs can be responsible for thousands of intentional collisions in certain areas with the total value of fraudulent claims going into millions of pounds. According to the IFB’s data around 170,000 of the 2.7 million insurance claims that were made in the UK between October 2019 and October 2020 were fraudulent. 

B25, B34 and B8 postcodes in Birmingham are the three areas most affected by this scam and BD3 postcodes in Bradford follow as the next most at-risk areas. Ben Fletcher, Director at the IFB, said: “’Crash for cash' fraudsters bring devastation to countless victims and increase motor insurance costs for us all. The IFB’s hotspot analysis is a stark reminder that although great strides have been taken in tackling the problem, these car crash scams are all too common. As traffic levels return to normal following the national lockdown, 'crash for cash' fraudsters may look to make up for lost time. It is hoped that by shining a spotlight on the issue we will encourage road users to be alert and report any suspicious activity to the IFB’s Cheatline.” 

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