Assisted by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), police carried out a search warrant at an accident management company in the city. In addition, three homes were searched and a quantity of cash, jewellery and documentation was recovered.
Three men aged 48, 42 and 40, and two women aged 49 and 46 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and have all been bailed pending further enquiries.
The arrests were made on the day that a new report about the ‘crash for cash’ phenomenon was published by the IFB. The report, ‘Crash for Cash – putting the brakes on fraud’, links one in seven personal injury claims to suspected organised fraud rings.
The report also estimates that ‘crash for cash’ costs the UK nearly £400 million every year, with honest policyholders ultimately picking up the bill through increased premiums.
Ben Fletcher, Head of Operations at the IFB, said: “We work with police forces up and down the country to expose alleged ‘crash for cash’ scams and disrupt the work of organised networks suspected of orchestrating fraud against the insurance industry. This is affecting every honest policyholder in the UK and we are urging members of the public to play their part in putting a stop to this.
