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Birmingham has been named as the place where British motorists are most likely to fall victim to a staged accident scam.
More than 3,000 ‘crash for cash’ claims were made in 2015, Aviva researchers found – that’s one every three hours – and 25% occurred in Birmingham.
Aviva says the number of induced accidents (where fraudsters deliberately target innocent motorists to cause accidents in order to claim whiplash compensation) remained worryingly close to 2014’s record levels, dropping just 2% in 2015.
The good news is that the number of “staged” (when two damaged cars are brought together to make it look like an accident) and bogus accidents detected fell by 40%.
| 2015 Top 10 Crash for Cash Locations | 2014 rank |
| 1. Birmingham | 1st |
| 2. North London | 3rd |
| 3. East London | New entrant* |
| 4. Leeds | 5th |
| 5. Harrow | 7th |
| 6. North West London | 8th |
| 7. Bradford | 9th |
| 8. Luton | 2nd |
| 9. Coventry | New entrant* |
| 10. Oldham | New entrant* |
“Crash for cash does not just push up premiums for genuine customers, it puts innocent motorists at risk,” said Tom Gardiner, Head of Fraud, Aviva.
“It is also a significant drain on scarce public resources such as ambulance, police and A&E time, all of which are wasted on these entirely bogus claims.
“The number of whiplash claims is a problem unique to the UK and needs urgent reform.”
* Manchester, Slough and Uxbridge featured in Aviva’s 2014 Top 10 hotspots table, but have dropped out of the top 10 areas for crash for cash in 2015.
