Whiplash claim news
02/09/2010

Couple were targeted by car crash gang

An 83-year-old man and his 82-year-old wife have spoken of their distress at becoming the victims of whiplash claim fraudsters who caused an accident with the couple's Nissan Micra then attempted to claim no win, no fee compensation for the incident.

The elderly couple had been negotiating a roundabout near the Trafford Centre, Manchester, when their car was inc collision with a Toyota Lexus. The Lexus driver then got out of his car, accused the couple of causing the crash and then made false allegations of racism. Soon afterwards he called the police.

"It was distressing and upsetting to see in the police statement the language we were supposed to have used," recalled the couple."

However, it has now come as a relief to the couple to discover that the man who caused the accident has been convicted of staging around 700 similar whiplash claim incidents.

These convictions come as part of a Manchester-wide crackdown on fraudulent car accident insurance activity.

A spokesperson from the Insurance Fraud Bureau, the body which investigates whiplash claim fraud, comments, "We have 25 substantive investigations ongoing, each involving many claims and networks of many individuals. As an industry, we are getting sharper at spotting fraud and we're seeing record numbers of the public getting in touch to report their suspicions via our telephone cheatline. Honest customers realise they are the ones who bear the cost of fraud."