The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has said that Birmingham has the highest levels of crash-for-cash activity in the UK.
The UK’s second biggest city has secured the number one crash-for-cash hotspot thanks to ten of its postcodes featuring in the IFB’s list of top 30 crash-for-cash districts. A further five of those appear in the top ten postcodes where motor claim fraud occurs most frequently.
Postcode districts in the Manchester postal area also feature prominently on the list, with five postcodes in the top 30. Surrounding area Oldham also features twice, as well as Bolton postcode BL3 being included on the list. Sheffield and Liverpool both have one postcode district featured in the top 30 and Bradford in West Yorkshire also features as a hotbed, with five postcodes. Nearby Wakefield postcode WF13 also appears as number 20 on the list.
N18 in London is the southernmost postcode, with only three postcodes from London featuring in the top 30.
The IFB has estimated that crash-for-cash scams are estimated to cost the insurance industry £336 million each year, with a single collision potentially worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Ben Fletcher, the director of the IFB, said: “These hotspots may be the worst affected areas for these types of scams, but crash-for cash-collisions can happen anywhere, so it’s imperative that road users are aware of them, exercise appropriate caution and if they believe they’ve been a victim, report it as soon as they can.
“These scams may seem to some to be a harmless way to beat the system and get an easy pay out with minimal risk. The reality is that not only do those people now stand a very good chance of getting caught and facing the consequences, but these scams put other motorist’s lives at risk.”
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