Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • June 2014
06

Aviva highlights 50% rise in 'crash-for-cash' scams

Open-access content Wednesday 18th June 2014 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Fraudulent ‘cash-for-crash’ claims increased by 51% in 2013, insurer Aviva claimed as it called for stronger sentences to deter fake road traffic accidents.

These bogus insurance claims have a value of over £10m and are at the highest levels it had ever detected, Aviva said.

So-called 'crash for cash' schemes see fraudsters deliberately stage car smashes on unsuspecting motorists and claim for the damage and whiplash compensation. Aviva said over 6,000 of the motor injury claims it had received were linked to organised gang activities.

Aviva's head of claims fraud Tom Gardiner said: 'The fast growth of induced accidents on our roads is cause for serious concern.

'We believe that convictions for motor injury fraud resulting from induced accidents should result in more custodial sentences that recognise the unique physical harm that this form of insurance fraud poses to motorists, as well as the wider social costs.

'Stronger sentences will deter would-be fraudsters and help to keep roads safer and premiums lower for customers.'

The insurers said it welcomed recent measures from Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to crack down on insurance fraudsters. These include new powers for courts to strike out claims where the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest.

Currently, even where a fraudster exaggerates his claim often by tens of thousands of pounds, he is entitled to recover his original claim, which provides little deterrent to discourage fraud, Aviva said.

 

This article appeared in our June 2014 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

EY predicts coming rise in motor insurance premiums

Motor insurance underwriting will return to being a loss-making product after one year in the black, forcing premiums to rise, according to EY.
Friday 20th June 2014
Open-access content

London insurers 'lagging on big data'

The London insurance market is in danger of lagging behind global competitors by failing to collaborate in its use of big data, insurance software business Xuber has warned.
Wednesday 25th June 2014
Open-access content

Life insurance business continues to fall, CBI survey finds

Business volumes in the UK life insurance market fell for a second successive quarter this year, while profitability declined during the same period, according to a quarterly poll published today.
Friday 27th June 2014
Open-access content

PPI: state pensions more costly in an independent Scotland

An independent Scotland would find it more difficult than the UK to pay for state pensions and could be forced to increase taxes to fund the bill because the Scottish population is ageing more quickly, the Pensions Policy Institute has claimed.
Thursday 19th June 2014
Open-access content

Actuaries back TPR's new DB funding code

Actuaries have welcomed The Pensions Regulator’s revised code of practice on the funding of defined benefit schemes, saying it strikes the ‘right balance’.
Wednesday 11th June 2014
Open-access content

LibDems vow to pass pensions 'triple lock' into law

The Liberal Democrats' manifesto will commit the party to passing the ‘triple lock’ state pension guarantee into law, pensions minister Steve Webb announced this weekend.
Monday 30th June 2014
Open-access content
Filed in
06
Topics
General Insurance
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Reserving Analyst

London (City of)
Negotiable
Reference
149485

Senior GI Modeler - Capital and Planning

London (Central)
£ excellent
Reference
149436

Risk Oversight Manager

Flexible / hybrid with a minimum of 2 days per week office-based
£ excellent
Reference
149435
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ