Don’t be fooled by the CAR CRASH CLICK-BAIT

It’s a cynical new ploy to cash in on accidents. Drivers Google their insurer’s phone number, but are instead connected to claims firms — and end up facing vast bills

CAR crash victims are facing bills of tens of thou-sands of pounds after being misled by firms posing as reputable insurers.

Websites are paying online search engines to appear at the top of their rankings when drivers search for their insurer’s details following a crash. So when shellshocked drivers call the number on the advert, they assume they are speaking to their insurer.

But Money Mail has learned that many have actually been put through to a ‘middle man’ — a claims management firm.

Motorists may then be passed to another firm, which organises a replacement car.

Victims mistakenly believe this is a courtesy car paid for by their insurer. In fact, they are liable for hire costs, which can spiral into tens of thousands of pounds.

Insurer Direct Line says one customer had his car held for more than one year and incurred costs of £50,000.

Hundreds of people could be getting caught out every month, according to industry sources. Insurance firms Ageas and Axa say the problem is now so intense that they face a bidding war with other sites for terms such as ‘Ageas + motor’.

Matt Crabtree, complex and organised crime manager at insurer LV=, says: ‘We’ve got the young and old getting caught out. The public cost of these scams is massive.’

Money Mail found several websites, includ-ing motoraccidentclaim.co.uk, report your claim.co.uk and report-claims.co.uk, which appear at the top of smartphone Google searches above genuine insurers.

A call recording obtained by this paper shows a call handler at registermycarclaim.

co.uk refusing repeatedly to say if they worked for Aviva.

Experts say firms only started using the tactic in 2017 — but cases have sky-rocketed since. Last year the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) received more than 300 reports in relation to online ads that appeared to falsely represent genuine insurers, but says the number of unreported cases is likely to be higher.

Customers caught in the scheme face extortionate costs because car hire and car storage is charged at a daily rate — on average around £100 and £30 respectively.

It is believed that car insurance customers also pay an extra £30 per policy, per year, due to claims management companies. Mike Brown, head of counter fraud intelligence at Direct Line, says: ‘These companies intentionally mislead at a stressful time for those looking for assistance.’

A Google spokesman says: ‘When people come to Google looking for financial advice, we want to ensure the ads they see are from organisa-tions offering genuine services.

‘We take immediate action to prevent misrepresentative ads.’