Desperate times, desperate measures

The recession seems to have brought out the worst in some of us, with over a million Brits saying they would stage a car accident to make a claim on their insurance.

We are of course all keen at times like these to save a bit of money but this would seem a step too far and one which costs the insurance industry dearly, with the knock on effect of increasing premiums for honest motorists. Indeed, the ABI (Association of British Insurers) has calculated that the cost to the industry amounts to a staggering £4 million a day, adding £40 a year to each motorist’s premium.

Research carried out by moneysupermarket.com has shown that 1,020,000 of us would consider making a fraudulent claim and, perhaps more worryingly, that 340,000 have already done so.

When it comes to the sexes it seems that men are twice as likely as women to give into their criminal tendencies, whilst geographically, Londoners are the most dishonest. As far as age demographics are concerned, motorists in their twenties are most likely to commit fraud.

The insurance industry categorises such fraudulent activities into three separate headings: staged, induced and contrived accidents. Staged accidents are where two vehicles deliberately crash into each other to make a claim. Induced accidents are where a motorist sets out to make an innocent party crash into a vehicle (or Crash for Cash as it is known in the industry) e.g. by braking sharply. Contrived accidents are where the claim is totally fabricated and no accident actually happened.

However great the temptation, would-be-crooks should bear in mind that not only is this practice illegal and one which endangers innocent lives, but, if found out, they face prosecution as well as finding it impossible to obtain cover in the future.