Yahoo News Three men jailed over ‘crash for cash’ motorway insurance scam in Coventry
Three men have been jailed for carrying out a “crash for cash” insurance scam on a motorway in Coventry.
The trio drove at about 50mph on a motorway slip road then falsely performed an emergency stop, causing an innocent driver to collide with them.
They then entered personal injury claims for whiplash, worth a total of £28,000.
The three men pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court last Friday to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
Mohammed Azam, 47, and Husnain Ahmed, 22, both from Birmingham, were sentenced to 25 months imprisonment, while Sufyan Lone, 25, also from Birmingham, was sentenced to 20 months.
The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) led the investigation and were initially made aware of the trio’s fraudulent activity through a referral from Hastings Insurance.
The insurance company had received a call from one of their customers who believed he was the victim of a “crash for cash” scam. The customer provided insurers with his own dash-cam footage.
The footage revealed that two cars in front of the customer were driving erratically and very close together. As the two cars travelled along the slip road of the motorway, the one directly in front of the customer carried out an emergency stop, causing him to collide into the rear of it.
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Detective Constable Kevin Hughes, who led the investigation for IFED, said: “These men were solely focused on making a financial gain and clearly didn’t care about endangering the innocent driver they targeted, as well as other drivers in the area.
“Despite driving at such a high speed, thankfully no one was seriously injured and it resulted in was these men getting the punishment they rightly deserve.”
When IFED questioned Azam, who was driving, he stated that he’d been involved in a road rage incident with the car in front which caused him to suddenly stop. One of the men who got out of the car directly after the collision also claimed they had to brake because of a lorry travelling along the motorway.
But the insurers also received footage from another driver which revealed there was no lorry or indications of road rage.
The footage also showed how they and another driver had to swerve out of the way to narrowly avoid the collision.
Matt Stevens, director of counter fraud at Hastings Direct, said: “We make significant investment in counter fraud operations to protect honest customers from criminal activity.
“The sentencing in this case sends out a strong message and we are delighted to work with the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department and bring these fraudsters to justice.”
