Crash for Cash and Fake Motor Insurance Claims
Ireland is well known for its ‘Compo culture’ and it has been a constant feature on the insurance map for years.
The insurance industry has ramped up their campaign to counter the compensation culture and frequently ask members of the public to come forward with information if they know of someone who is faking an injury.
Court cases have been thrown out when it transpired that claimants were suddenly able to lift large objects or go running without any sign of the pain when previously they had claimed that had that they had life changing injuries.
The problem with this fraudulent climate is that it makes it all the more difficult for the actual legitimate claims to be believed and processed.
Fake claims raise the price of premiums for consumers and as a result of these fake claims, nobody wins and it damages the economy as a whole.
It has emerged that a newer and more insidious form of compo claim has arisen, the cash-for-crash stings.
In these crash scams, the perpetrators deliberately stage a crash, then fake an injury such as whiplash and put in a compensation claim.
Due to thousands of suspect dodgy accidents, motor insurance companies are now clamping down hard on these stings.
Not only are exaggerated and false claims illegal and fraudulent, these crash-for-cash staged accidents also endangers other innocent motorists.
The big insurance companies are seeking legislative support to ensure they are backed up by the law and the judicial system to bring an end to the fraudulent claim culture.
The bottom line is that motor insurance premiums have gone through the roof and something needs to be done and done fast to curb the skyrocketing premiums.
If the insurance companies are claiming that rising premiums are all down to fraudulent claims, we should all support any effort needed to reduce the claims but we should also be aware that insurance companies are being accused of over egging the fraud in order to cover over their own financial management issues.
Author
Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader
in automotive intelligence and vehicle
data supply to the entire motor industry.
He has almost 20 years experience in
building systems from the ground up.
As the Managing Director of Vehicle
Management System, he understands the
need and importance of trustworthy and
reliable vehicle history and advice to
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