Motorist William Smith was proud of his perfectly clean driving record before crashing his car last year.
The 50-year-old was driving home after visiting his mother when his Ford Focus crashed into the back of an Audi that had suddenly stopped at a roundabout in Nottinghamshire.
He admitted responsibility for the collision, after having been driving the vehicle in the back and paid hundreds of pounds for repairs, but it soon emerged that he had been the target of a fraud attempt.
Image: Hundreds of pounds of repairs were needed after the alleged “cash accident” incident. Image: William Smith
Dashcam footage revealed Mr Smith was the victim of an alleged “cash accident” incident, and there are now warnings that the criminals behind the dangerous scams are targeting new areas of the UK .
Scams often involve scammers braking at busy intersections and roundabouts, so the driver behind you can’t stop in time.
The Insurance Fraud Office (IFB) says it has found evidence that gangs are increasingly traveling to areas far from the usual spots to cause collisions with motorists less familiar with the crime.
Smith told Sky News that he was “shocked” by his accident and that those behind the scams are causing “pain and fights to innocent people,” as well as risking lives.
“There could be children or elderly and frail people who may not support even a small impact,” he said.
“I didn’t expect the car in front of me to stop suddenly because the road was clear.”
Claim for “substantial” personal injury.
Immediately after the collision near Cotgrave, Smith said the driver of Audi – who had a passenger in his car – began taking photographs of the damage to his vehicle.
Image: Mr. Smith’s Ford Focus crashed into the back of an Audi that had stopped suddenly. Image: William Smith
“He was very calm,” Smith said.
“He didn’t seem at all worried because something had just gone down his back.
“It’s the first time I’ve been involved in something like that. Until then I had a perfectly clean driving record.”
Smith said his insurance company LV = examined the images from his dashboard camera and admitted responsibility for the collision.
But a few weeks later, the Audi driver made a claim for “substantial” personal injury despite the collision occurring at low speed, Smith said.
Image: Mr Smith was attacked by an alleged “money crash” scammer. Image: William Smith
An LV = spokeswoman said her fraud detection systems collected information about the driver that caused the company to review the incident again.
Smith said images from his dashboard camera were re-examined and revealed a second car “appeared to be working in unison” with the Audi vehicle.
The images showed that the second car had made a complete turn around the roundabout before it looked like the Audi had stopped suddenly, despite being very far away, he added.
Smith said his insurers tried to contact the Audi driver to state that they believed it was a fraudulent claim, but received no response and the case was closed.
He told Sky News he is now relieved to know the accident was not his fault, but he also felt “anger and frustration” because he had been forced to cover a £ 400 deductible for car repairs.
Staged accidents “return to pre-pandemic levels”
LV = said he had seen the activity of organized crime groups working together to coordinate shock scams for cash increase.
Staged accidents accounted for the highest type of insurance fraud during the last quarter of 2021, he added.
Image: This vehicle was damaged in a “cash shock” scam in Gloucestershire. Image: LV =
Matt Crabtree, head of fraud strategy at LV =, said: “With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, we have started to see staged and induced accidents at pre-pandemic levels, with increased group activity of organized crime.
“I urge the public to stay alert to this and look for images from command cameras or CCTV if you are involved in what you believe is an orchestrated accident.”
Death by shock for cash
The first fatal cash accident incident in Britain was recorded more than a decade ago.
Baljinder Kaur Gill, 34, died in a collision caused by a deliberate accident on the A40 in Buckinghamshire in 2011.
Image: Baljinder Kaur Gill died in a collision after members of a Polish gang starred in a “cash shock” insurance scam.
Members of a Polish gang were involved in an attempted fraud in which a Volkswagen Passat and an Audi A3 had to be crashed into a Ford Transit van to claim compensation for personal injury.
Mrs. Gill’s Ford Fiesta was hit by one of the vehicles used in the £ 20,000 insurance scam and left her stranded in the fast lane.
Radoslaw Bielawski and Jacek Kowalczyk were jailed for 10 years and three months and Andrzez Skowron was sentenced to 10 years for their roles in Gill’s death.
We oriented areas
According to the IFB, known cash holdings in the UK include Birmingham, Bradford, Walsall, Blackburn, Romford, Manchester, Luton and London.
The office has also identified 10 new areas that have been frequently focused on over the past 12 months.
They are:
• Frome, Somerset • Worksop, Nottinghamshire • Cirencester, Gloucestershire • Milton Keynes • Nottingham • Shrewsbury • Warrington, Cheshire • Leicester • Ashby, Leicestershire • Derby
There is also evidence to suggest that gangs are targeting villages with dangerous tactics, the IFB said.
There is now concern that if local drivers fail to monitor the signs of the scam and report it, cases could escalate rapidly.
Ben Fletcher, director of the IFB, said: “The crash for cash scammers is known to have evolved their tactics and the latest evidence shows that they have begun to spread from prominent crime scenes to lesser towns and cities. suspects in the hope that they may avoid them.detection.
“This change in tactics brings home the fact that no matter where people live, everyone should be on the lookout for these reckless car accident scams.
“To help us stop the rise in cases and bring these scammers to justice, we urge drivers to look for signs of an accident for cash scams and to report any evidence to us immediately.”
Image: This vehicle was damaged in a “cash accident” scam in the West Midlands. Image: LV =
There is also fear that the cost of living crisis could make these scams more frequent.
Detective Chief Inspector Tom Hill of the City of London Police said: “As we have seen in the past, a rising cost of living and the resulting financial hardship can often drive people to commit fraud. .
“Unfortunately, that means the public needs to be even more alert than usual in the face of scammers, such as an accident for cash drivers.”