Insurance Car Crash Scam in England

An insurance-fraud gang racked up £8m by duping innocent motorists into crashing their cars.

Crooks cut their own car brake lights before stopping sharply at roundabouts - so helpless victims rammed them from behind.

The gang members then made hugely-insurance claims on the victims' policies.

They often invented whiplash injuries to fictional `passengers' and exaggerated the damage to their own cars. And hundreds of drivers across Greater Manchester and Lancashire fell victim to the `crash for cash' scam, police believe. The average claim was £20,000 per incident.

Twenty-five arrests have already taken place after a three-year probe - with more expected in coming weeks.

Canoe Man and Wife Jailed For Six Years

John and Anne Darwin were each jailed for more than six years today for carrying out a £250,000 insurance con by faking his death in a canoeing accident.

John Darwin was jailed for six years and three months. His wife Anne was sentenced to six years and six months after she was found guilty of her role in the fraud.

The couple tricked the police, insurance companies and even their two sons Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, into believing he drowned in the North Sea in 2002 - only for Mr Darwin to turn up at a London police station last year.

They were undone by a photograph of the grinning couple taken in Panama four years after he disappeared.

Why Is Car Insurance Fraud On The Increase?

If ever there was a self fulfilling prophecy then the car insurance market may well be it!

A recent report by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) claims that car insurance fraud in the UK has increased by 70% over the last 3 years. As the cost of running a car continues to spiral upwards many drivers are being left with very few ways of paying off their debts. The fact that one such car insurance fraudster was found to have literally pushed his car off a cliff may be a little over the top (literally!), but there are also many other examples of drivers becoming desperate.