The UK’s top 30 ‘Crash for Cash’ scam hotspots revealed
The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has today released new figures that confirm the UK’s top 30 worst-affected postal districts for ‘Crash for Cash’ scams.
‘Crash for Cash’ is a common insurance scam which sees fraudsters invent or deliberately cause road traffic collisions, often involving innocent people, to try and get compensation.
The hotspots analysis confirms Birmingham remains the most prevalent area in the UK for the dangerous scam, followed by postcodes in Bradford, Manchester, London and Luton.
IFB analysis of 2.7 million motor insurance claims made across the UK in between 1/10/2019 to 31/12/2020 has identified over 170,000 claims which could be linked to suspected ‘Crash for Cash’ networks.
|
Rank
|
PC
|
Location
|
Rank
|
PC
|
Location
|
Rank
|
PC
|
Location
|
|
1
|
B25
|
Birmingham
|
11
|
B33
|
Birmingham
|
21
|
WS2
|
Walsall
|
|
2
|
B34
|
Birmingham
|
12
|
WF13
|
Wakefield
|
22
|
BD2
|
Bradford
|
|
3
|
B8
|
Birmingham
|
13
|
BD15
|
Bradford
|
23
|
BD5
|
Bradford
|
|
4
|
BD7
|
Bradford
|
14
|
OL8
|
Oldham
|
24
|
B11
|
Birmingham
|
|
5
|
BD3
|
Bradford
|
15
|
HX1
|
Halifax
|
25
|
HP12
|
High Wycombe
|
|
6
|
WS1
|
Walsall
|
16
|
M8
|
Manchester
|
26
|
B28
|
Birmingham
|
|
7
|
BB9
|
Blackburn
|
17
|
LS8
|
Leeds
|
27
|
RM8
|
Romford
|
|
8
|
BD8
|
Bradford
|
18
|
N9
|
North London
|
28
|
LU4
|
Luton
|
|
9
|
B27
|
Birmingham
|
19
|
WF16
|
Wakefield
|
29
|
IG3
|
Ilford
|
|
10
|
RM18
|
Romford
|
20
|
LU3
|
Luton
|
30
|
BD9
|
Bradford
|
‘Crash for Cash’ scams can range from paper-based fabrications, or vehicles being damaged behind closed doors, through to the most dangerous where collisions are being caused by fraudsters with innocent road users.
IFB investigations have found single gangs can be behind thousands of orchestrated collisions in some areas, with the combined value of their fraudulent claims running into the millions.
