Drive Carefully to Avoid Car Insurance Scammers

There has been a worrying trend in insurance scams taking place on Britain’s roads in recent years. This has seen a rise in apparent accidents that turn out to be choreographed events by criminals working in tandem in separate vehicles. The criminals wait for the right moment to cause an innocent drivers to have a crash, and then make false insurance claims.  Insurers have reportedly paid out millions of pounds to this kind of scam.

How it Happens

The criminals drive in tandem, with the lead vehicle driving very slowly in front of an innocent driver’s car or lorry.  Suddenly a third vehicle will swerve in front of the first car, meaning it has to brake sharply, leaving no time for the innocent driver behind to brake, and they crash into the car in front. The vehicle that caused the accident (driven by the other criminal) drives away from the scene.

The innocent driver often doesn’t realise what has taken place, as they have seen the other car swerving in front of the one they ran into. They unwittingly exchange details with the supposed ‘victim’ of the accident, and the claim goes through.

Car iInsurers are getting wise to these scams though. One possible indicator for this kind of scam is when there is a number of individuals in the car that was hit from behind all making personal injury claims for problems such as whiplash.

Of course, this kind of scam is not only dangerous for other drivers on the road, but will result in everyone’s car insurance premiums being pushed up, to cover the insurers’ losses on fake claims.  There’s little you can do to avoid premiums going up, although insurers do group drivers according to risk, and the car you drive can affect which risk category you are placed in.  Hybrid cars, for example, tend to be driven by older, wealthier individuals, so their owners fall into a lower risk insurance category. If you are about to buy a new car, you'll find that some new car offers include free insurance for the first year, so this can be another way to save on insurance.

To give yourself the best chance of avoiding being involved in one of these insurance scams, remember to focus on driving carefully. Maintaining a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front, and using all your mirrors to keep an eye on what’s happening around you, will give you a better chance of avoiding an incident.

Thanks for visiting our Drive Carefully to Avoid Car Insurance Scammers page. We hope it helped find what you were looking for.