White van man’ is increasingly being targeted by criminals running dangerous crash for cash fraud rings, according to new research.
According to law firm Hill Dickinson, which has a fraud database with 200 million records and details of 10 million insurance claims, only one van — the Ford Transit — appears in the top 20 for general insurance claims, but five vans appear in the top 20 vehicles targeted in ‘crash for cash’ scams in the last 12 months.
As a result, light commercial vehicles have been involved in almost a third of all deliberate collisions caused by ‘crash for cash’ gangs in a worrying trend that has emerged in the last 12 months, suggesting vans are being deliberately targeted.
Fraudsters target professional vehicles like vans because they are most likely to be fully insured, and their drivers are often working to a tight deadline and are therefore less likely to dispute liability, according to anti-fraud firm APU’s team of former Police officers and forensic investigators.
One in seven personal injury claims – some 69,500 a year – are linked to suspected crash for cash scams, costing the motor industry £392 million annually. Neil Thomas, APU’s Director of Investigative Services and a former Detective Inspector of West Midlands Police, said:
“This is yet another example of how criminal fraud gangs are becoming more sophisticated – they are thinking quite hard about exactly who they target on the roads and it’s based on solid logic.
“Britain’s LCV drivers are a hard-working lot and are very often pushed for time, so they are less likely to stand by the side of the road arguing the case about a collision. The criminals are banking on the fact that they will simply exchange insurance details and move on. It’s cynical but it works.”
Indeed, these figures suggest that the Transit is the most frequently-targeted vehicle in induced accidents, and along with the Mercedes Sprinter, Vauxhall Vivaro, Citroen Berlingo, Volkswagen Transporter and tipper vans, account for 31% of induced claims.
| No | Induced | % | No | General Insurance Claims | % |
| 1 | Transit | 15.2 | 1 | Focus | 10.21 |
| 2 | Astra | 11.4 | 2 | Astra | 10.2 |
| 3 | Vectra | 9.1 | 3 | Corsa | 8.9 |
| 4 | Corsa | 6.9 | 4 | Fiesta | 8.6 |
| 5 | Focus | 6.82 | 5 | Transit | 7.3 |
| 6 | Golf | 6.8 | 6 | Golf | 6.94 |
| 7 | Sprinter | 6.1 | 7 | Mondeo | 4.75 |
| 8 | Punto | 4.55 | 8 | Clio | 4.6 |
| 9 | 206 | 3.8 | 9 | Megane | 4.3 |
| 10 | Fiesta | 3.79 | 10 | Zafira | 4.2 |
| 11 | Vivaro | 3.78 | 11 | 206 | 4 |
| 12 | Discovery | 3.03 | 12 | Vectra | 3.85 |
| 13 | Megane | 3 | 13 | Polo | 3.64 |
| 14 | Mondeo | 3 | 14 | Civic | 3.25 |
| 15 | Berlingo | 2.3 | 15 | Micra | 3.18 |
| 16 | Transporter | 2.27 | 16 | Passat | 3 |
| 17 | Range R | 2.2 | 17 | Punto | 2.9 |
| 18 | Land R | 2 | 18 | 307 | 2.2 |
| 19 | 106 | 2 | 19 | Avensis | 2 |
| 20 | Tipper | 1.52 | 20 | Yaris | 1.94 |
With an average value of £30,000, the crash for cash scam is when a vehicle driven by a member of the fraud gang causes a deliberate collision with that of an innocent victim. Traditionally, this involves the fraudster pulling in front of his chosen target and slamming on the brakes, allowing little time for the innocent party to avoid a collision.
Last summer, APU revealed the worrying new tactic, which it dubbed ‘Flash for Crash’, which involves innocent drivers being beckoned out of a junction by the flash of headlights, only to be hit by the criminals’ car. The almost undetectable tactic makes it harder for an innocent driver to prove fault in the resulting ‘their word against mine’ dispute.