Leeds still among '˜crash for cash' UK hotspots

Urgent reform is needed to stop 'crash for cash' fraudsters having easy access to compensation and profits, according to one Britain's biggest insurance companies.
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Leeds and Bradford are among the hotspots for the offence, according to Aviva, whose analysis revealed more than 3,000 organised crash for cash claimants last year - the equivalent of one every three hours.

One in every four of these claims happened in Birmingham, though Coventry, Oldham, and Luton have also seen large numbers of complaints.

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The figures include induced accidents, where fraudsters deliberately target innocent motorists to claim whiplash compensation, as well as staged accidents, when two damaged cars are brought together to make it look like an accident.

Aviva said induced accident numbers remain “worryingly” close to record levels seen in 2014, with the number of cases falling by just two per cent in 2015.

But the insurance firm says there has been a dramatic 40 per cent year-on-year fall in staged accidents.