There was a report on Radio 5 Live yesterday about a scam in the Manchester area, it is apparently getting quite common.
They interviewed a driver who had been following another car onto a roundabout with no other traffic in sight, the other car suddenly braked hard and the driver lightly bumped the back of it. The woman passenger feined a whiplash injury, details were exchanged etc. 5 mins later the driver saw the other car in a retail park, followed the couple into a sports shop and photographed the woman easiliy pulling sweatshirts on and off over her head. 24 hours later he had a solicitors letter claiming whiplash, he let his insurers have the photo evidence plus details of an independant witness who saw the 'accident', IIRC the report said the other parties were prosecuted.
I think I might have been a victim of a similar situation a few years ago, I followed a van across some traffic lights that were on green, the driver slammed his brakes on, I bumped him, my number plate was not even cracked though the rear door of the van was dented. The van driver seemed fit as a fiddle, he actually apologised saying he stopped suddenly because he thought the lights might have been on red, I too received a solicitors letter claiming injury, as I expected the claim went against me, it included a a couple of grand in medical expences and loss of earnings.
In my case I think the accident was perhaps genuine though the subsequent claim was a reflection on the "where there's a blame there's a claim" culture that exists today.
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>>other car suddenly braked hard and the driver lightly bumped the back of it.
The moral being, don't drive so close to the car in front that you can't avoid it if it stops unexpectedly. Of course, we could have found that in the highway code at any time in the last million years as well.
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Norwich Union investigators presented the police with evidence of a gang who made over 400 false insurance claims by staging accidents as described by Cheddar. They were told by the police (I can't remember which force, though it was named on Radio 2) that the Home Office had listed white collar fraud as a low priority target and therefore they could not make the resources available to carry out an investigation.
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It was quite common around Birmingham a while ago. I think someone tried to involve me in one as I remember following a car with a couple of people in it that kept looking behind them then braked suddenly approaching some traffic lights. I was keeping well back as I got the feeling they were looking for an accident.
Always leave extra room, particularly in large cities as it seems to be a trick pulled quite regularly. If you have a camera in the car then you can take pictures of any damage if you do bump someone and get pictures of the passengers so they don't suddenly claim there were 5 people in the car when there were only 2.
teabelly
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The moral being, don't drive so close to the car in front that you can't avoid it if it stops unexpectedly. >>
Clearly, accidents happen, I learned from my experience.
However in the same way as wrongful use of the accelerator can result in a conviction perhaps the wrongful use of the brakes should also be accounted for in law, or at least in the road and traffic regs.
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Whiplash injuries are notoriously variable, that?s why thy make a good basis for injury claims. It also often doesn?t manifest itself until a couple of days later.
My sister-in-law had the tiniest bump when a car backed into the side of her's but it jerked her neck ? she?s been in constant pain ever since.
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As NoFM2R has commented, the best way to avoid this is to keep some distance between you and the car in front.
I suspect these people carefully choose their victims - those who will drive too close either because their agressive or not paying attention. The little old lady who leaves 2 car lengths in front will not feature.
IIRC this has been going on in the states for some years now.
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this has been going on in the states for some years now
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and here in the uk too.
in the newspaper which we can't name here, they had a story yesterday (friday) about this. search for their news item on their pages for yesterday:
"phantom crash gangs cheat car insurers out of millions"
where it says " ...
If you are a punter on the street, you go to a local Mr Big and pay £500. He will have an army of drivers who will take the car and set up an accident, typically at a roundabout, involving an innocent member of the public.
?A stooge driver will use the punter?s identity documents to impersonate him. The punter will then make an insurance claim. The Mr Big also owns a medical legal agency which provides a fake medical report for a whiplash claim as well.?
....
... Convictions for this kind of fraud are rare. A London-based fraudster was convicted for conspiracy to defraud in 2004 and in 2001 a gang of six were jailed for their part in a £150,000 car insurance fraud. In 1999 nine people were jailed for a scam that amounted to £3 million. "
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Whiplash should not be underestimated. I was involved in a minor shunt about 10 years. Minimal damage to the cars yet the full symptoms of whiplash took about 8 months to clear.
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Whiplash should not be underestimated.>>
I should have said in my original post that I do not take whiplash lightly, I was a passenger in a car when I was 14 that was hit from the rear and pushed into the car in front, I was diagnosed with whiplash (the lack of head rests did not help), I still suffer from the effects some 30 years later.
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Don't forget, that instead of an insurance scam they could be waiting for you to get out of your car for a discussion about the accident, then an accomplice jumps in your car and is off.
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Well known scam in the North West. Usually occurs when the injured driver and his passengers come from Blackburn or Burnley or other places where the population is deemed a target for the BNP.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Forgot to add that a friend of mine is a doctor who does medico-legal stuff and is always investigating supossed whiplash injuries. Given that they make up only X% of the population, they are about 3X% of his clients......
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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