The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has called for a greater focus on the role played by claims management companies (CMCs) in so-called ‘crash-for-cash’ incidents, in which accidents with innocent parties – often LGV drivers – are engineered in order to make a fraudulent motor insurance claim.
Speaking at a forum in Westminster, IFB director Ben Fletcher highlighted the need for continued collaboration between insurers, police and regulators to help deal with the problem and called for a greater onus on front-end checks for CMCs, to prevent unscrupulous businesses from being authorised to trade.
He also called for the CMC community to take a more proactive role in sharing intelligence with the IFB about suspected fraudulent behaviour; and for the disclosure of any referral source to be made a mandatory part of motor insurance claims forms.
“While many CMCs are genuine, we know from years of operational experience that some are set up by criminal gangs solely to mask organised insurance fraud,” he said. “The measures we are proposing will help identify them, prevent them from posing a severe financial risk to our industry, investigate them, and bring fraudsters to justice.”
