Background

In a recent case, our policyholder reported being involved in a suspicious road traffic incident. While pulling out from a side road onto a main road, two individuals on mopeds stopped and gestured for the driver to proceed. As the driver moved forward, one of the riders deliberately accelerated and collided with the vehicle. Despite the low-speed impact, the rider dropped the moped to the ground and tore off the front fender in an effort to exaggerate the damage, before leaving without providing any details.

This incident bore the hallmarks of a “crash-for-cash” scheme: a type of insurance fraud where fraudsters deliberately stage or cause accidents to submit false claims for damages and injuries. Such schemes cost the UK motor insurance industry an estimated £392 million very year according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau, driving up premiums for genuine customers and put road users at risk.

How we helped

We received a letter from the rider for personal injury, vehicle damage, credit hire, recovery, and storage. Having successfully taken on crash-for-cash schemes in past, we immediately noticed the unusual circumstances and the concerns raised by the driver and referred the claim to our Special Investigations Unit (SIU)

Our SIU carried out a detailed investigation into the claim. Checks revealed that both the claimant and the moped had been linked to eight separate incidents in just 11 months. Feedback from other insurers involved in these earlier claims highlighted similar concerns about suspicious patterns of behaviour.

Further inquiries uncovered additional claims that originated from the claimant’s address, suggesting a wider fraud network. When reviewing the claimant’s medical evidence, inconsistencies were identified in the way he described the injuries across multiple incidents – further undermining his credibility.

When the claimant escalated the matter and issued court proceedings, we instructed Keoghs, Davies’ legal arm, to defend the case in full.

Outcome

On the day before trial, the claimant’s solicitors unexpectedly made an offer to discontinue the claim after recognising the weakness of their case. This was accepted by our insurer client.

As a result, we saved our client over £40,000 in damages and legal costs. Beyond the immediate saving, winning this case means another step towards our mission of working with our insurer clients in the fight against insurance fraud.

Got a case you’d like to talk about? Get in touch with us today.