{"id":6342,"date":"2014-06-18T18:06:24","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T18:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=6342"},"modified":"2014-06-18T18:06:24","modified_gmt":"2014-06-18T18:06:24","slug":"vans-targeted-in-crash-for-cash-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/6342","title":{"rendered":"Vans targeted in ‘crash for cash’ claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

White van man\u2019 is increasingly being targeted by criminals running dangerous crash for cash fraud rings, according to new research.<\/p>\n

According to law firm Hill Dickinson, which has a fraud database with\u00a0200 million records and details of 10 million insurance claims, only one van — the Ford Transit — appears in the top 20 for general insurance claims,\u00a0but\u00a0five vans<\/em> appear in the top 20 vehicles targeted in ‘crash for cash’ scams in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

As a result, light commercial vehicles have been involved in almost a third of all deliberate collisions caused by ‘crash for cash’\u00a0gangs in a worrying trend that has emerged in the last 12 months, suggesting vans are being deliberately targeted.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s team of former Police officers and forensic investigators.<\/p>\n

One in seven personal injury claims \u2013 some 69,500 a year \u2013 are linked to suspected crash for cash scams, costing the motor industry \u00a3392 million annually. Neil Thomas, APU\u2019s Director of Investigative Services and a former Detective Inspector of West Midlands Police, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is yet another example of how criminal fraud gangs are becoming more sophisticated \u2013 they are thinking quite hard about exactly who they target on the roads and it\u2019s based on solid logic.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritain\u2019s 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\u2019s cynical but it works.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
No<\/strong><\/td>\nInduced<\/strong><\/td>\n%<\/strong><\/td>\nNo<\/strong><\/td>\nGeneral Insurance Claims<\/strong><\/td>\n%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nTransit<\/strong><\/td>\n15.2<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\nFocus<\/td>\n10.21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nAstra<\/td>\n11.4<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nAstra<\/td>\n10.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nVectra<\/td>\n9.1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\nCorsa<\/td>\n8.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nCorsa<\/td>\n6.9<\/td>\n4<\/td>\nFiesta<\/td>\n8.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nFocus<\/td>\n6.82<\/td>\n5<\/td>\nTransit<\/strong><\/td>\n7.3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nGolf<\/td>\n6.8<\/td>\n6<\/td>\nGolf<\/td>\n6.94<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nSprinter<\/strong><\/td>\n6.1<\/strong><\/td>\n7<\/td>\nMondeo<\/td>\n4.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nPunto<\/td>\n4.55<\/td>\n8<\/td>\nClio<\/td>\n4.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n206<\/td>\n3.8<\/td>\n9<\/td>\nMegane<\/td>\n4.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nFiesta<\/td>\n3.79<\/td>\n10<\/td>\nZafira<\/td>\n4.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nVivaro<\/strong><\/td>\n3.78<\/strong><\/td>\n11<\/td>\n206<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nDiscovery<\/td>\n3.03<\/td>\n12<\/td>\nVectra<\/td>\n3.85<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nMegane<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n13<\/td>\nPolo<\/td>\n3.64<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nMondeo<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n14<\/td>\nCivic<\/td>\n3.25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nBerlingo<\/strong><\/td>\n2.3<\/strong><\/td>\n15<\/td>\nMicra<\/td>\n3.18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nTransporter<\/strong><\/td>\n2.27<\/strong><\/td>\n16<\/td>\nPassat<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nRange R<\/td>\n2.2<\/td>\n17<\/td>\nPunto<\/td>\n2.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nLand R<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n18<\/td>\n307<\/td>\n2.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\n106<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n19<\/td>\nAvensis<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nTipper<\/strong><\/td>\n1.52<\/strong><\/td>\n20<\/td>\nYaris<\/td>\n1.94<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

With an average value of \u00a330,000, 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.<\/p>\n

Last summer, APU revealed the worrying new tactic, which it dubbed \u2018Flash for Crash\u2019, which involves innocent drivers being beckoned out of a junction by the flash of headlights, only to be hit by the criminals\u2019 car. The almost undetectable tactic makes it harder for an innocent driver to prove fault in the resulting \u2018their word against mine\u2019 dispute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ford Transit is the most commonly-targeted van in ‘crash for cash’ accident scams, according to figures from law firm Hill Dickinson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37],"tags":[548],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6342"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6344,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6342\/revisions\/6344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}