€200 TO SIT IN A ‘CAR CRASH’

Latest insurance scam is netting millions for fraudsters

FRAUDSTERS are charging fellow cheats €200 for a seat in a car that is then crashed into an innocent motorist.

The passengers then feign injury and make illegal compensation claims that are now so widespread they cost honest car owners as much as €50 extra on their insurance rates every year.

The ‘crashes’ also leave serious accident victims in danger as emergency services are called to incidents where they are not needed, ambulance drivers have warned.

However, the Irish Daily Mail today reveals how gardaí and insurance firms are cracking down on the schemes.

Insurers have told how Traveller gangs co- operated with Romanian cheats to claim tens of thousands of euro in court scams.

Incredibly, one insurer – Aviva – brought evidence to a recent case indicating that 79 Travellers were involved in a network of insurance scams that had cost the company between €1.5million and €2million in

payouts. In another case, gardaí caught a group of criminals on CCTV as they left a car before a crash – and then sat back in to wait for the emergency services.

Other cases involved people who weren’t even there, claiming compensation for non-existent injuries.

The practices cost the insurance industry about €200million every year, which are passed on to ordinary motorist in higher premiums.

But in recent months a series of court cases in which scam artists have had their claims rejected indicate the tougher stance the industry is taking to combat the fraud.

Greater co-operation between insurers and the gardaí has also led to a string of convictions and more are expected to reach the courts in the coming months.

Fraud Claims Manager with Aviva insurance, Robert Smyth – a former Garda superintendent – has told the Mail that of the thousands of claims made in Ireland every year, between 3 per cent and 6 per cent are frauds.

He said the fake crashes were a growing phenomenon, adding: ‘It varies how the scams work, some people we have come across were buying seats in cars and then giving a percentage of their claim to the organiser. Others would be charged €200 to get in the car, and then the claim they get is their own.’

He added: ‘Aviva would have an extremely sophisticated software package that assists us in doing this. We have offices in seven countries so

‘Everybody has a back injury’

we have a lot of expertise in this area and are in a good position where we can draw on this experience and use that to identify these rings,’ he said.

He highlighted a recent case in Galway in which Circuit Court president Judge Raymond Groarke accepted that two Traveller brothers were paying Roma drivers for crashing their cars into other vehicles.

As he dismissed €38,000 of claims made by brothers Martin and John Gerard Corcoran and others, Judge Groarke said a vast amount of research had been done by Aviva. The company’s barrister said it was challenging 79 outstanding claims linked to the same group.

Mr Smyth also referred to cases in Cork last month where ten people were convicted of fraud and making false statements to gardaí about three separate staged accidents.

One of these frauds involved the cheats caught on CCTV getting out of the car before the crash. He said Aviva had already got back the first instalment of the money it paid out to the ten convicted fraudsters.

Mick Dixon, of the Ambulance Drivers Representative Association, said his paramedics regularly come across accidents that they suspect have been staged. ‘You could go out to an accident where there were two people in the vehicle and by the time

you arrived there were six people in it and everyone has a back injury.

‘That is a serious issue because it’s not only one vehicle that has to be sent out, it’s three ambulances. Genuine people who need the ambulance are going to be deprived.’

All claims for road traffic accidents are initially lodged with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board which

notifies the insurance company. The company has 90 days to inform PIAB whether it is contesting the claim or will let PIAB assess the injuries and award a suitable compensation amount. A spokesperson for PIAB said all cases that reach the courts do so because they are contested by the insurance company involved.

Most claims assessed by PIAB are

in the low-to-medium category and involve payments for soft tissue, minor fracture and whiplash injuries.

Last year it made 12,420 awards. Of that 9,328 were for motor accidents and of those, 5,930 were for amounts less than €20,000. About 90 per cent of personal injury awards by PIAB are for less than €38,000.

In recent years gardaí have stepped

up their activities to combat insurance fraud. A spokesman said they are investigating a number of suspected claims including alleged staged traffic accidents, home insurance claims, life assurance and specified illnesses claims. The force and the industry ‘work closely’, he said.