The IFB’s advice for potential victims is relatively straightforward. “Stay calm, and don’t be pressured into admitting fault, and note as much information as possible about the driver and any passengers, or any witnesses.” Drivers should also inform the police if they feel threatened in any way, as Nicola tells us scammers can often be forceful and intimidating.
If anyone thinks they’ve been targeted by a ‘crash for cash’ scam, they should also report it via the IFB’s confidential Cheatline service.
Spoof car insurance adverts
Have you been in an accident? Watch out for fraudsters looking to mimic legitimate insurance businesses online. “Typically using a search engine like Google, they will create an advert that makes them look like a legitimate service. So if you’re roadside, and you’ve just in been involved in a crash and are quickly looking for your insurer’s details online, you can click inadvertently on a fake link to report your incident,” says Nicola. “Actually, at the other end is someone collecting data for illegitimate gain. You’ll think you’ve told your insurer about the claim, but you haven’t – you’ve told a fraudster who’s looking to gain financially from that situation and the information you’ve shared.”
The best way to avoid falling prey to this one, says Nicola, is to keep your insurer’s phone number in your phone. “If you haven’t done that, always triple-check websites for authenticity or inconsistencies, and if you come across misleading ads, report them to Cheatline.”
Fronting
This is a form of insurance scam where a driver becomes the fraudster, and it’s an application fraud rather than a claim fraud.
“When applying for insurance, someone might be tempted to mislead the insurer as to who will be the main driver of the vehicle in order to reduce the premium,” says Nicola. “Typically this might be a teenager deciding that putting a parent as the main driver is a good idea in order to keep the premium down.
“However, this is insurance fraud,” she says. “It’s illegal, and if you’re stopped by the police and it’s quite clear that you’re the main driver of that particular vehicle, you face the same kind of consequences as if you are uninsured. You could have your car seized, you could have it crushed.”
Every week, three people are caught ‘fronting’ and placed on the IFB’s Insurance Fraud Register, with the ongoing consequence that it can become much harder and more expensive to find cover in future.
Have you been caught out by a car insurance scam? Let us know in the comments below…
