CCTV exposes fraudulent claim of driver

City-of-London-Police-Fraud-video

A carer who falsely claimed he was injured in a car accident as part of a bogus compensation claim has been given an adult caution after CCTV footage showed he wasn’t even in the vehicle at the time of the collision.

An investigation was carried out by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department when insurance company LV= contacted them about a suspected fraudulent claim linked to a collision in a car park in Slough last November (2015).

The incident happened as a woman reversed her vehicle into another parked car in the Halfords car park. LV= was notified by their insured and a subsequent claim for damage to the vehicle was made by the other vehicle’s owner and paid out by LV= to the tune of £2,000.

However, the other driver – a man in his 50s – then went on to submit a personal injury claim, stating that he’d received injuries to his neck, back and arm as a result of the collision and was seeking up to £5,000 in compensation from LV=.

But the woman went back to Halfords and asked if they had CCTV footage from the car park and when they showed it to her, it clearly showed the other driver getting out of his vehicle and standing next to it at the time of the collision.

The footage was passed to LV= who then flagged the case to IFED to investigate. The man was interviewed by IFED officers in July, where he initially tried to maintain his story that he was injured whilst inside his car during the collision. But when detectives showed him the CCTV footage, he admitted to making the whole story up.

He was subsequently given a police caution earlier this week (2 August) and IFED officers are releasing footage of the incident to warn members of the public that submitting fraudulent insurance claims is a criminal offence and could result in a criminal conviction.

Detective Constable Mohammed Darr, from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department said:

“This was one of the most blatant cases I’ve dealt with and he was clearly lying to LV= to try and get a compensation payout for injuries he never received. He now has this on his criminal record and he also has to declare the fact he was involved in fraudulent activity to his employer as he is in a notifiable occupation.

“As well as being criminal, this kind of behaviour also drives up insurance premiums for honest customers and we all end up footing the bill. It may be tempting to submit exaggerated or dishonest claims to try and increase an insurance claim, but it is fraud and where cases are identified they can be passed to police and you could end up with a criminal record, a conviction, or even end up in prison.”

Clare Lunn, Head of Claims Crime Prevention at LV=, said: “This Individual believed that he could make a claim for compensation when he had not suffered a genuine injury.  At LV= we take a hard line on fraud and will investigate all suspicious claims, pushing for the toughest sentences for those who are prosecuted, in order to protect our honest customers.

“Claimants need to understand that fraud is not a victim-less crime and can result in serious consequences to themselves. No matter how tempting the financial reward appears they should not be fooled into making false claims.  We hope this sends a clear message to other have-a-go fraudsters.”

 

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