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Blackburn now second worst for ‘crash for cash’ con

1:23pm Thursday 28th May 2009 in


GANGS who stage car crashes in a bid to rip off insurers remain prevalent in Blackburn, despite the town being knocked off the top of a league table.

Research by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) places the town second in the country for the number of ‘crash for cash’ incidents.

Figures released in December 2006 put Blackburn as the worst place in the country for the staged ‘accidents’, but that honour now falls to Bradford.

The IFB says activity has fallen in Blackburn as a result of joint working between themselves and the police, while nationally ‘crash for cash’ incidents have reduced by 11per cent over the past two years.

Sgt Mick Young, at the Blackburn road policing unit, said: “I don’t think we have a problem with staged accidents here. I wouldn’t say it was worse than anywhere else.

“We do take any incidents very seriously though. If we don’t believe it is an accident, then we will fully investigate it.”

‘Crash for cash’ scams usually involve fraudsters driving to busy road junctions and then performing unexpected, unnecessary and dangerous emergency stops designed to cause innocent members of the public to crash into them.

John Beadle, chairman of the IFB, said: “The criminal gangs targeting honest motorists are ruthless.

“Innocent lives are being put at risk and fraudulent insurance claims add approximately £40 to every premium paid by honest policy holders each year.”

Since its formation in July 2006, the bureau has been instrumental in helping the police to make almost 300 arrests of people who were trying to defraud insurers.

Comments(22)

jwm_100 says...
4:13pm Thu 28 May 09

I don't see how SGT Young can tell whether we have an average quantity of staged accidents, the Police don't want to know about car accidents, they refuse to attend most incidents.We had a hit and run type incident,lots of damage to our car, the Police were called,the offending registration number was taken.... their response? Take it up with your insurance company....thanks a lot!

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Gene Hunt says...
8:23pm Thu 28 May 09

Most of these crash for cash scams are never reported to the Police because the Police are the last people the scammers want to speak to. The sad reality is that every honest claimant in the Blackburn area, is viewed with suspicion by the IFB, simply by having the misfortune to live in a town riddled with thieving fraudsters. My advice would be that if you think you may be a victim of this type of scam, tell the Police.
I also heard today that Blackburn has the most Accident Claims Companies in the UK. People even run these companies from their living rooms. The DWP should join forces with the IFB. They would have a bloody field day.

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Marky mark says...
9:43pm Thu 28 May 09

Well knock me down with a feather duster!! I often have the discussion about how these people can afford to drive around blackburn town centre allday long, in top brand cars , we all see them and I am sure the authorities do but I suppose they have to turn a blind eye as we all do.

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tillymilly says...
9:51pm Thu 28 May 09

we were involved in such an incident in the Feniscowles area of Blackburn 3 weeks ago and although it was so obviously a set up no one we contacted to try and report our concerns to were even slightly interested and now we have again just had to accept it and pay the excess and I don't doubt the other party involved - who were by the way driving a car that was already held together with tape - has now but in a huge personal injury claim and is driving around in a top of the range hire car at the expense of our insurance policy. The bad guys win again

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BigJockKnew says...
10:19pm Thu 28 May 09

Please decent people out there becareful at roundabouts and slip roads.THEY have a nasty habit of slamming on infront of you.Thy did it to my mother and now she wont drive as she's lost confidence.

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Old Timer says...
12:11pm Fri 29 May 09

The more I hear and read of this criminality my politics are beginning to change. What a soft touch we honest and decent people are. Did I serve my King and country for this behaviour to be accepted? No I didn't

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SJD, Blackburn says...
12:24pm Fri 29 May 09


Blackburn and Bradford. There is a common theme there but i just can't put my finger on it!

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Izanears says...
12:41pm Fri 29 May 09

I can SJD!

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maj3091 says...
12:57pm Fri 29 May 09

Be careful pointing out the true facts SJD and Izanears, you'll have the PC Brigade all over you!

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Mike says...
12:57pm Fri 29 May 09

A car ploughed into the rear of my car in Blackburn. Four young Asian male occupants in the car which failed to stop. Lets face it - the standard of driving and adherance to the rules is pathetic with many young drivers, most of whom are Asian in Blackburn.

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King Kenny says...
1:21pm Fri 29 May 09

maj3091 wrote:
Be careful pointing out the true facts SJD and Izanears, you'll have the PC Brigade all over you!
My thoughts exactly. Numerous comments deleted that mentioned the other towns. Can't see why LET, we're talking facts.
If you want the full list then here it is;

1. Bradford
2. Blackburn
3. Oldham
4. Liverpool
5. Huddersfield
6. Birmingham
7. Bolton
8. Halifax
9. Uxbridge
10. Luton

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easymonies says...
1:57pm Fri 29 May 09

Mike wrote:
A car ploughed into the rear of my car in Blackburn. Four young Asian male occupants in the car which failed to stop. Lets face it - the standard of driving and adherance to the rules is pathetic with many young drivers, most of whom are Asian in Blackburn.
Don't forget the taxi drivers.

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De La Rosa says...
3:12pm Fri 29 May 09

there is a definite recurring theme with the towns mentioned above, they all have large ethnic minority groups residing within them! let the PC brigade start, they won't be so PC when it an incident happens to them!

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easymonies says...
3:48pm Fri 29 May 09

So the LET have again put their stamp on freedom of speech and removed posts that they deem to be either racist or provocative. Thus only covering up a massive scandal that is occurring in Blackburn.

I hope your proud LET. Because YOU are turning people to become racist with your meddling.

They say the truth hurts - LET just removes it.

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NICEONESUNSHINE says...
8:56pm Fri 29 May 09

The vast majority of these claims are made by young asian males but white people are also responsible for these types of fraud too. Everyone knows this, it's fact. Should we not be told that there is a risk of insurance fraud to elder motorists from mainly asian males driving dilapidated cars at junctions and roundabouts? As long as posters refrain from making blatant racist comment, what is wrong with naming sections of society that are the main culprits? If the LET cannot accept this and are scared of the truth they shouldn't report the news and then let people comment on it. whats more by not reporting the truth and not allowing free comment by censoring the LET panders to the blatant lies frothed by the BNP etc.

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Totally says...
10:58pm Fri 29 May 09

This is well-practised in our area - my car was side-swiped by a young man who then drove his car out of sight and returned on foot to the scene to ask "what did you do that for?" We exchanged details but he disappeared before the police arrived and no great surprise his details were fake. By the time my undriveable car had been recovered and I'd made it home there was a message from the accident claims handler about the other driver's injuries.
My insurance company pursued him for 3 years but never found him and my insurance took the hit.

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easymonies says...
4:52am Sat 30 May 09

The other solution is not to carry your insurance. You do not need to as long as you can produce it at a police station if requested.

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RAyzer says...
7:12pm Sat 30 May 09

lancs evening telegraph hates the truth---every1 knows its a asian thing,the stats STATE THIS,that75% of claims are asian scammers

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Slimplynth says...
11:16pm Sun 31 May 09

Plenty of motorcyclists/cyclis
ts wear small helmet mounted video cameras. Consider the expense of adding one to your car against the cost of an insurance claim. I'd love to turn up in court with video footage, watching the little buggers squirm would be great

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Tosh67 says...
8:17pm Mon 1 Jun 09

De La Rosa wrote:
there is a definite recurring theme with the towns mentioned above, they all have large ethnic minority groups residing within them! let the PC brigade start, they won't be so PC when it an incident happens to them!
Ethnic minority - who you on about here us White Anglo Saxon Protestants?

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Silent Majority says...
12:22am Tue 2 Jun 09

Slimplynth wrote:
Plenty of motorcyclists/cyclis

ts wear small helmet mounted video cameras. Consider the expense of adding one to your car against the cost of an insurance claim. I'd love to turn up in court with video footage, watching the little buggers squirm would be great
Already had one post deleted on this post for quoting facts drawn directly from the IFB (Insurance Fraud Bureau) website so not confident this one will stay on.

Yes, good idea with the cameras. Why not have an insurance disc similar to a tax disc or an MOT disc clearly on display? One wonders given that apparently it costs approx £40K per fraudulent claim why the insurance industry / police / Government have not implemented these ideas. Its not rocket science. A camera which would monitor each journey would save £thousands in investigations and allow for criminal prosecutions to be brought against fraudsters / phantom passengers and :professional" witnesses.

If you consider you are a victim of a staged accident...ring the police and report it to the Insurance Fraud Bureau.

Having a BB1 or BB2 postcode means your insurance is considerably more than those postcodes which do not appear on the top 20 fraud hotspots as identified on the IFB website. The more fraudsters who are caught (and prosecuted) means less staged accidents = less fraudulent claims = cheaper insurance for all law abiding, upstanding, morally conscious, people.

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tillymilly says...
5:18pm Tue 2 Jun 09

just a quick update on our situation, our insurers are now taking our claims seriously and are fully investigating the circumstances of my husband's accident and have assured us that no claim will be met until such time as this is completed and have even said that we may get our excess paid by the third parties insurance if it is deemed a fraudulent claim. So please don't write off your accident as we had decided to until reading the articles in the press and watching recent television broadcasts, stick at it and maybe this sort of incident against innocent motorists may decrease

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