Episode 5 Claimed and Shamed

Insurance fraud in the UK is reaching epidemic levels,

and it's costing us billions of pounds every year.

Deliberate crashes, bogus personal injury claims, even fake deaths.

The fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing

and every year it's adding up to £50 to your insurance bill.

Insurers are fighting back. Armed with covert surveillance systems...

The CCTV cameras are the best tool we have in our fight against fraud.

..sophisticated data analysis techniques...

This is connected to a bank account and a second mobile phone number.

..and a newly formed, dedicated police unit...

Police! Stand Back!

..they're catching the criminals red handed.

All those conmen, scammers and cheats on the fiddle,

now they're caught in the act and Claimed And Shamed.

Today...

a specialist police fraud unit is on the hunt

for fake pet insurance claims.

A crash-for-cash gang pick a big victim.

And just brake, brake, brake, yeah, got it.

And an insurer is taken for a ride.

This is a guy who claims that he'll never be able to work again

and he's pretty well in constant pain.

All of these collisions are crash-for-cash attempts.

Crash-for-cash is a term given to collisions

executed in order to make money from motor insurance policies.

And it's rife.

A recent poll found that 5% of drivers under the age of 35

have staged an accident in order to make a fraudulent insurance claim.

But crash-for-cash is not an opportunistic crime,

it's organised, often by gangs.

Simply slamming on their brakes in front of a victim

would attract suspicion.

So the crash gangs have evolved a devious two-car tactic.

First, the gang chose a victim.

Then they move their two cars into position in front of the target.

Gang car number one then slams on its brakes.

Gang car two reacts by braking hard,

resulting in a rear end shunt from the victim.

Gang car one then turns off at the next possible turning,

pretending to be unaware of the crash.

The march of the crash-for-cash gangs isn't going unchecked.

A specialist unit from the Metropolitan Police

is determined to remove these fraudsters from our roads.

Any tactic that we can think of, we will use to catch these people.

One of the unit's most powerful tools is video surveillance.

Both vehicles now in the offside lane of two.

It's September 2007.

A crash-for-cash gang is being filmed on the A41.

The gang is setting up a grocery van for a smash.

Yes, yes, it's the offside lane towards the Mike 2-5...

The gang didn't randomly pick the grocery van as a victim.

They chose it because it's a fleet vehicle.

The reason for choosing a fleet vehicle is that they're insured

and that's what they're interested in.

They're interested in whoever hits them is insured

so they can maximise their claim

and not be worried about being run into by a non-insured driver.

The gang move in on the innocent van driver.

Car number one is about to slam on its brakes,

forcing car two to react.

Yes, yes, it's the offside lane towards the Mike 2-5

and they in effect just brake, brake, brake, yeah, got it, yeah...

Car one, the decoy, has driven off, leaving car two

to make the claim against the innocent grocer.

Yeah, the lorry's now just gone into the back of the Jaguar.

-'And have obtained?'

-We have obtained.

We started looking at this organised criminal gang.

Asian male one now out of the vehicle, and the subject.

This smash was one of three claims the gang made, totalling £55,000.

Thanks to the video evidence, they didn't keep a penny.

All six were convicted.

The main ringleader receiving some eight-months imprisonment

and the remaining five two-year suspended sentences.

These fraudsters were off the roads, but the Met Traffic Unit

is fighting a constant battle against crash-for-cash gangs.

In the autumn of 2009, the Unit discovered another crash gang,

and once again a fleet vehicle was the target.

It involved three lads who decided to basically create

a slam on in front of a vehicle.

The blue car ahead is planning to execute a crash-for-cash manoeuvre.

They are not using a decoy car

and simply plan to surprise the driver of the fleet vehicle.

VAN CRASHES INTO CAR

The van driver falls into their trap.

The reason they stated for doing an emergency stop was

there was a bus stop and there was a bus at the bus stop

and there was a woman stepping off the bus into the road

and that was the reason why they stopped.

But the fraudsters are out of luck as the camera fitted to

the fleet vehicle reveals the truth of the matter.

As you see on the footage, there is a bus stop, but there is no bus

and there certainly isn't a woman stepping onto the road.

When I saw the evidence, I thought it was very audacious

and I was very surprised that someone could be so blatant to

just slam on for no apparent reason in the middle of a busy junction

on a busy road and no regard whatsoever to the chaos that causes.

At Croydon Crown Court,

all three occupants of the car were found guilty

of fraud by false representation

and each sentenced to three-months imprisonment.

A satisfactory outcome for the owners of the fleet vehicle,

online grocer Ocado.

Specifically targeting our drivers is very distressing for them.

It feels a bit like being mugged.

It also affects their professional pride in the job that they do.

When we believe it's a fraudulent crash, we will pursue it

through the court system, so there's no debate about that at all.

We'll take it all the way.

This sort of crime is a growing trend in this country now.

If people go to prison, they might think twice about doing it.

Brake, brake, brake. Yeah.

There's absolutely the potential

that a staged fraudulent accident could kill someone.

There's no doubt about that, it's an accident

and it has all the same dangers as any other road accident.

A police unit raids the home of a suspected insurance fraudster.

Yep, OK.

A corner shop in Barnsley gets torched.

She lied to her family,

she lied to her friends and she lied to the police about what happened.

And a private investigator closes in on a shamed claimer.

During the footage which clearly shows him

going up 40-50 feet high in order to get up on a ride.

In the fight against the growing problem of insurance fraud,

an elite police squad have come together to form IFED,

the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.

Insurance fraudsters are hitting us in our pockets, that's not right.

IFED have been set up to combat that problem and we will do so

by making arrests all over the country.

This dedicated team works tirelessly to bang up the crooks

and conmen getting rich off other people's money.

Police! Stand back!

Committing insurance fraud, there's every chance that IFED

are going to come knocking on your door and bringing you to justice.

Police! Don't move! Stay where you are!

By April 2012, after only six months of operating,

they had already busted 80 fraudsters.

Adding up to £12 million of fraud under investigation.

Insurance fraud is seen at the moment as an easy touch.

IFED is setting out to stop that

and make these organised crime groups think again.

IFED investigates every type of insurance fraud,

personal injury, buildings, holiday, even pet insurance fraud.

Fraudulent Pet insurance claims rose from £420,000

in 2009

to £1.92m in 2011,

a nearly fivefold increase over two years.

Today IFED is planning a raid on a suspect known to have

a long track record of claiming against multiple insurance policies.

I've in fact dealt with her earlier this year about a number of cases.

In fact, eight cases in total. This time, when I arrest her,

I'm going to have to be interviewing her about another 20 cases.

As well as making numerous home contents claims, she has submitted

a large number of pet insurance claims with different insurers.

I'm just getting the paperwork together

and we're going to have to move quite quickly on this and arrest her

sooner rather than later because the claims keep on coming in.

On the raid, the IFED team will be keen to establish whether

any of the supposedly deceased dogs are still alive.

We've got information to suggest one Chihuahua is still alive,

but, um...we think there might be other dogs there as well!

We're also going to be looking for computers and telephones,

and, you know, for evidence of her applying for the insurance policies.

It's hard to separate fact from fiction

if she comes up with a whole load of stories

so we're going to have to be careful with the way we deal with her.

The team members arrive outside the suspect's house.

Not knowing what to expect, they leave nothing to chance

and put on protective equipment.

Hello, (BLEEP). Alex Cooley, yeah. We met in January, didn't we?

Yes. Why, what's happened now?

Well, do you want to take a seat?

DOGS BARK No, OK.

Take a seat and I'll explain.

I'm going to arrest you for a whole number of fake insurance claims.

With access to the property gained,

TI Cooley explains to the suspect what they are looking for.

We need to look for evidence basically to confirm

what dogs you have, yeah?

And to look for documentation for the insurance policies. OK?

So how many Chihuahuas? I saw one standing up.

A Staffie-type pitbull, so just go easy,

-he looks like he's ready to jump.

-Yes, OK. Good dog, mate.

Shut that door, we're not intending to search that.

We do need to get her to the police station as soon as practical.

We're going to have a look... and we're going to search the house

for evidence relating to the insurance fraud.

Before taking the suspect into custody, the IFED team

ask her to direct them to any documents relating to insurance.

Is there anything here that you can help us with to quicken our search?

Any paperwork relating to those insurance claims?

What, the claims that have gone on already?

Anything to do with insurance. Any claims.

There's that one.

Thank you. If you can just place it on there for us.

-Anything like that.

-Oh, sorry.

The suspect is compliant.

She shows the team where to find the paperwork it has come for.

If you just keep that, we'll take the details with us.

Is there anything upstairs in your bedroom?

The suspect is taken into custody for further questioning,

leaving IFED to search the whole house for evidence

of multiple fraudulent pet insurance claims.

IFED's search for evidence keeps running into little interruptions.

Personal injury insurance exists to help us when, due to an accident,

we are unable to work or need money for extra care.

And, like motor insurance, it's being abused by dishonest claimants.

The number of personal injury claims received by insurers

leapt 72% between 2002 and 2010,

a figure that is set to rise.

In 2007, this man was injured at work.

The claimant had been operating a burger van.

He was mopping up at the end of the day

and someone collided with the rear of it,

as a result of which he sustained damage to both knees.

Due to his knee injuries, the burger van owner sought compensation.

Stating that he was no longer able to work,

he claimed for £425,000 in lost future earnings.

On top of that, he made a further claim

for adaptations to his property.

Shortly after the firm was instructed, we received a request

for an interim payment to enable this guy to adapt his house

to fit a through lift, a downstairs bathroom and a downstairs toilet,

suggesting he had a very high level of disability indeed.

This was an unforeseen expense for the insurer,

but before they paid out on any amendments

to the burger van owner's house

some information about the claimant was discovered.

Some medical evidence emerged which suggested that he had

convictions for fraud and dishonesty, as a result of which

they became particularly interested in the possibility

that this claim might be one that they should be looking at very hard.

The insurers were suspicious of the claimant.

They decided to call in the help of a private investigator.

Insurers will sometimes commission surveillance

when they believe that the injury which is being claimed

does not support the level of damages which is beginning to emerge,

and that was certainly the case here.

The nature of his work

means the investigator needs to remain anonymous.

We specialise in surveillance as a company

and as a percentage, 75% of the surveillance we carry out

is insurance fraud or insurance-related surveillance.

Due to an anonymous tip-off, the private investigator

was instructed to film the claimant for a whole Sunday.

The solicitor was very keen for us to place the claimant

under surveillance that particular weekend.

So it was on a Friday evening that I received a call on my mobile

from the solicitor and we dispatched a surveillance team.

You know, it's very short notice for us

to get the surveillance team and unit together

and deployed out to the claimant's home address.

He did come out of the house in the morning,

seemed to be loading up and sorting out his car.

Well, what unfolded was incredible, really.

The claimant was on a day trip -

a day trip to an amusement park.

After buying himself a ticket,

the private investigator entered the park

and set about surveilling the claimant.

We filmed him as and when it was possible.

At the theme park, he was going on rides

and he did have a walking stick with him, but it didn't seem

as though he was using it in a weight-bearing capacity.

The video evidence showed a man capable of walking without

the aid of a stick and comfortably handling a fairground mallet.

Later on during the day, you know the strongman hammer,

you bang it with a mallet and up it goes, you try to hit the bell,

he was filmed using one of those.

And this is a guy who claims he'll never work again,

he's totally restricted with his mobility

and he's in pretty well constant pain.

That day, his claim to need a stair lift

and downstairs bathroom was also to be dispelled.

It was interesting that he claimed he needed a ground-floor bathroom

and a stair lift. However, during the footage

it clearly shows him going up 40, 50 feet high

in order to get on a ride.

The surveillance op filmed the claimant managing

a four-story ascent before shooting down an amusement ride.

At the end of the day, the camera does not lie

and you can't argue the case. The video footage clearly shows

an individual who is exaggerating his symptoms.

From the time he left his home address to getting back after being

at the theme park, he was out for approximately ten hours of the day.

In the face of such overwhelming evidence, the burger van owner

had no choice but to accept a vastly reduced payout.

The result of all this was a claim that was originally put at £800,000

was settled for a very small fraction of that indeed.

In addition to getting his small percentage of what he claimed,

there was also a costs order against him.

This is another case where I would be surprised

if the claimant came out any better off than when he went in.

I would say the general public would think,

hang on a minute, I pay huge premiums for my motor insurance,

for my household insurance and they seem to go up every single year,

way above the rate of inflation, and the reason they are going up

is because we have become a claim culture.

This person is really exaggerating

and they are defrauding the system and as a result of these individuals

our claims are going through the roof.

Most business premises in the UK are insured against property damage.

A sensible measure when you consider that in the UK in 2009,

large-scale fire damage costs totalled £865 million.

Shockingly, 40% of all fires at commercial premises

are subsequently found to have been arson.

Meet Sukhjit Kaur.

She and her husband used to own D&S Supersave,

a corner-shop in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

D&S Supersave had been serving the needs of East Barnsley,

until a terrible event destroyed the family business.

It was 3.30 in the morning, the 9th of March 2010

when the police received the call from Mrs Kaur.

Mrs Kaur was in a very hysterical state,

and she was at a neighbour's address at the time.

The neighbour took over the call,

and the information was passed through the neighbour to the effect

that three masked men had gone into Mrs Kaur's home address,

held them at knifepoint,

her and her husband and a small child.

For a number of hours had been held hostage at knifepoint, um...and...

just prior to leaving the address,

the masked men set fire to the premises.

Her husband was also asked about the masked gang.

Mr Singh maintained the same story,

that three masked men had gone into the house,

held them at knifepoint, and set fire to the premises.

Sukhjit and her husband claimed to have been subjected

to a frightening attack, lost their livelihood

and nearly killed in their own home.

Their neighbour, Jean Kaye, was also affected by the fire.

The neighbour was very shook up.

It was 3.30 in the morning, she was asleep in bed.

She was awoken by the sound of an explosion,

which was probably from aerosols within the store.

When she woke, her house was smoke filled.

She did suffer from smoke inhalation,

and she had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Had she not woke up, it could have been much, much more serious.

Having survived the ordeal, Mrs Kaur informed her insurer of the event,

submitting a claim for £166,000.

With this payout,

Sukjhit and her husband could rebuild their business.

Their insurer began to process their claim, but soon hit a snag.

We discovered that she'd taken the policy out one day before the fire.

This coincidence raised the suspicion of the insurer,

so they looked into the financial state of the couple.

It didn't look good.

Mrs Kaur told our loss adjuster

the business had been in financial difficulty for some years.

They used to run a post office which went.

For the last six, seven years, they'd had great difficulty in surviving,

and she'd borrowed lots of money from a local money lender.

She didn't admit to the loss adjuster or to us exactly how much she owed,

but we know, having done the background checks,

in terms of financial status - this is in the public domain -

that she owed up to, well, she had CCJs to the value of £150,000.

With a business deeply in debt

and a potential insurance payout of £166,000,

the insurer had good reason to suspect

Sukjhit and her husband were involved in the arson.

So South Yorkshire Police brought her in for questioning.

When we first spoke to Mrs Kaur...

she broke down,

and told us that she was in a lot of debt, and that she was involved.

That led to her arrest

and she was formally interviewed at the police station.

And it was during that interview that she confessed

to being involved in setting the fire,

for the purpose of making an insurance claim.

Although she confessed to the crime,

Sukjhit insisted the plan hadn't been her idea.

She owed a lot of money to the loan shark and he wanted his money back,

so what he suggested to her was to put in a large insurance fraud.

He would organise people to come into the shop

in the dead of night and actually set the fire.

At Sheffield Crown Court,

Sukhjit Kaur was sentenced to five years for conspiracy to defraud,

later reduced to four years on appeal.

For his part in the deception,

her husband was sentenced to three years.

She had of her own accord managed to get herself into a lot of debt.

She couldn't manage that debt, she could see no way out of that debt.

She lied to her family, she's lied to her friends,

and she lied to the police about what happened.

When we found out they'd been given custodial sentences,

for us at Allianz it was a very pleasing outcome.

It sends a message out that insurance fraud is no longer

a victimless crime, there are victims.

And you won't get away with it.

Today the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, IFED,

has raided the property of a woman suspected of multiple attempts

of pet insurance fraud.

She has been taken into custody, leaving the team

to search her property for evidence.

Her boyfriend has just arrived outside.

The boyfriend's here. Right, OK.

She's just with a female officer because we're going to be

questioning her today in (BLEEP) police station.

MUFFLED SPEECH

Well, she was dealt with for a number of offences

earlier in the year, as you know.

Unfortunately there are offences which have occurred more recently

and some going back over the last couple of years.

IFED resumes its search.

Just like the suspect,

her boyfriend proves to be helpful in the hunt for evidence.

Hamster seed.

The search for evidence spreads to the first floor of the property.

I'm going to take these two

because they're just related to identity documents.

-Will you give that back afterwards?

-Yeah, she'll get everything back.

In less than an hour, the team has unearthed several bags

of potential evidence relating to pet insurance claims.

Making the search more complicated is the fact that the suspect

goes under several aliases.

Who's (BLEEP)?

-Is that your missus?

-Yeah.

Even after an hour,

the team still isn't used to the smaller inhabitants of the house.

Aw, little man. DOG BARKS

(BLEEP) on, you!

DOGS BARK

IFED has seen enough.

It has a boot full of potential evidence,

leaving the team confident of a conviction.

It is putting more money on everyone's insurance policies

because the fraud element is always taken into account by the insurers,

so hopefully, by arresting the suspect today,

we'll make some small contribution towards turning things around

so that hopefully one day, insurance premiums can start to come down.

The suspect was later charged

and sentenced to 22 months in prison.