Car insurance scammers target Christmas shoppers in car parks
Scammers target Christmas shoppers
Fraudsters are targeting innocent drivers in car parks who are out Christmas shopping by lodging bogus claims against them.
Insurance companies are warning customers to be vigilant as a spike in the scam has been recorded recently especially during the festive season.
Aviva sent out the following message to customers by email in which they said, “In recent months Aviva has seen growing evidence of innocent motorists being targeted by fraudsters who are seeking financial gain from bogus insurance claims,”
“We have seen a trend of very minor collisions in public car parks resulting in the submission of personal injury claims for soft tissue injuries such as whiplash.”
The scam involves the fraudsters targeting drivers as they reverse out of car parking spaces. They deliberately collide with them, usually with two or three passengers in the car.
The poor unsuspecting driver then accepts they are at fault with all parties agreeing to swap details but not contact gardai.
The fraudsters then claim for damages against the innocent driver and this, in turn, pushes up their premium.
The insurance company has noticed a trend in recent months when they examined previous claims.
“It has reared its head in the Munster area and we suspect it might happen in other parts of the country also.
“So we thought we should alert our customers to it,”
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Justin Kavanagh
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