0:00:02 > 0:00:05Insurance fraud in the UK has hit epidemic levels.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09It's costing us around £2 billion every year.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11That's almost £6 million a day.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Deliberate crashes, bogus personal injuries...
0:00:17 > 0:00:19even phantom pets.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22The fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing,
0:00:22 > 0:00:27and, every year, it's adding over £50 to YOUR insurance bill.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29But insurers are fighting back,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33exposing around 14 fake claims every hour.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Armed with covert surveillance systems...
0:00:35 > 0:00:37That's the subject out the vehicle.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40..sophisticated data analysis techniques...
0:00:42 > 0:00:45..and a number of highly skilled police units.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Police, don't move, stay where you are!
0:00:47 > 0:00:49They're catching the criminals red-handed.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50Just don't lie to us.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54All those con men, scammers and cheats on the fiddle,
0:00:54 > 0:00:56are now caught in the act
0:00:56 > 0:00:58and Claimed and Shamed.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Coming up... A shameless con artist tries to trip up the council.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13The point where he was found was approximately half a mile
0:01:13 > 0:01:16from where the pothole was located.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21The IFED team return to haunt a greedy Ghost Broker.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24He's got all the equipment and the capabilities to commit
0:01:24 > 0:01:26the type of fraud that we're investigating.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Think I'm going to need a bigger car!
0:01:28 > 0:01:32And two conflicting accounts put an insurer on a collision course.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36The driver of the other vehicle was claiming £15,000 for personal injury,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39£12,500 for ongoing care
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and £770 for a coat that was damaged.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49A walk in the park can be anything but,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52if you forget to look where you're going.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Slips, trips and falls account for over 50% of all accidents
0:01:55 > 0:02:01in the UK, and cost the NHS a staggering £133 million a year.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04This is exactly the sort of unfortunate accident
0:02:04 > 0:02:07experienced by 27-year-old Marc Bower.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11The claim presented by Marc Bower was, on the face of it,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15a straightforward tripping claim that we deal with day-to-day.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19He said that he'd fallen on a pothole
0:02:19 > 0:02:21whilst returning home from a party.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26The pothole-related tumble proved a painful experience
0:02:26 > 0:02:30for Mr Marc Bower, who sustained a serious fractured ankle.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Backed up by his father, Richard, and friend, James Jones,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Bower wasted no time in putting in a claim against
0:02:36 > 0:02:40the London Borough of Havering for the injury and loss of earnings.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43The claim, once it was submitted,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46was investigated by the local authority,
0:02:46 > 0:02:48and, after making those enquiries,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52liability for the accident was admitted and then efforts were made
0:02:52 > 0:02:56to obtain a medical report so that the claim could be valued.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00By now, the claim stood at a whopping £100,000.
0:03:00 > 0:03:01Unfortunately for Mr Bower,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03it was soon apparent that his account
0:03:03 > 0:03:05was no more truthful than Pinocchio's.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Once the medical report was obtained,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11it revealed that he had in fact been injured when he'd fallen from
0:03:11 > 0:03:17a wall, rather than having tripped on a pothole, as he was alleging.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22Unusually, Mr Bower decided that he would continue with his claim.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26The arguments against these records was that there was confusion,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29there were language difficulties when they were prepared, and,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33simply, there had been mistakes. That was what he said.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Already smelling a rat, but hoping to find even more
0:03:37 > 0:03:40conclusive evidence, the investigators had one more trick
0:03:40 > 0:03:42up their sleeve against the fraudsters.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45We then obtained the recording
0:03:45 > 0:03:48of the 999 call that was made,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51as it transpired, by Mr Bower's friend,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54James Jones, on the evening of the accident.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58RECORDING OF PHONE CALL:
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Sorry, can I hear that again?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19I thought he tripped in a pothole...
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Right! Well, you've really put your foot in it there, mate.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28But not in a pothole...
0:04:28 > 0:04:31There was no mistake. Mr James Jones was quite clearly
0:04:31 > 0:04:33heard speaking to Marc Bower at the same time,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36asking him what had happened, and you could hear
0:04:36 > 0:04:39both James Jones and Marc Bower confirming,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41"I'd fallen from a wall."
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Yet it wasn't just the phone call that proved damning.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02A very useful piece of evidence in this case turned out to be
0:05:02 > 0:05:05the evidence of the ambulance crew.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08They were able to confirm where they'd parked their ambulance
0:05:08 > 0:05:11and where they eventually found Mr Bower,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13which was near a boating lake.
0:05:13 > 0:05:19At this point, we could establish that the point where he was found
0:05:19 > 0:05:21was approximately half a mile
0:05:21 > 0:05:26from where the pothole was located.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29And, funny enough, right by where he was found,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31there was in fact a three-foot wall.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37After a short period of negotiation with Mr Bower's solicitors,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40the claim was discontinued
0:05:40 > 0:05:45and he was required to pay the council's costs of that action.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48But that wasn't the end of the story.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50The council issued contempt of court proceedings
0:05:50 > 0:05:54against all three individuals - Marc Bower, and his father, Richard,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56as well as James Jones, who had backed up his story,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59all having lied in their earlier statements.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04Shortly before the trial of the contempt case, Marc Bower
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and his friend, James Jones, conceded that they had
0:06:07 > 0:06:10committed a fraud
0:06:10 > 0:06:13and they laid themselves to the mercy of the court.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18Richard Bower, however, said that he had no knowledge of the fraud
0:06:18 > 0:06:20and it was nothing to do with him.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24Therefore, we had to have a trial on the issue of the contempt
0:06:24 > 0:06:26of Richard Bower alone.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28He was an unimpressive witness
0:06:28 > 0:06:32and the judge was critical of the way in which he gave his evidence,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35suggesting that he gave an impression
0:06:35 > 0:06:38that he was making it up as he was going along.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41And, furthermore, the judge took the view, when giving judgment,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45that Richard Bower was in fact the driving force behind the fraud.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50At the Royal Courts of Justice, the three men were sentenced for
0:06:50 > 0:06:54their greedy ploy to con Havering Council out of £100,000.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Initial claimant Marc Bower received a two-month prison sentence,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01his father Richard Bower received a four-month prison sentence
0:07:01 > 0:07:05and his friend, James Jones, was given one month behind bars.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10I think a custodial sentence is justified in this kind of case,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12because the money can be better spent elsewhere.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16It could be spent on care for the elderly, education,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18all sorts of other activities,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21rather than paying off fraudulent claimants.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Still to come...
0:07:28 > 0:07:31A fridge fraudster finds himself frozen out.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35We decided to look at Mr Johnson's insurance history.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38When we did that, we were frankly amazed...
0:07:38 > 0:07:41And the latest black box technology plays detective
0:07:41 > 0:07:43to help solve a mystery crash.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Significantly, at the time of him saying the collision had occurred,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50the vehicle was two miles away in a totally different location.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00In January 2012, the City of London police joined the fight
0:08:00 > 0:08:04against insurance fraud by forming an elite squad known as IFED,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11I've had to combat of all sorts of insurance fraud across the board,
0:08:11 > 0:08:16ranging from opportunistic jewellery thefts to crash for cash.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18They've made over 550 arrests
0:08:18 > 0:08:22and have saved millions of pounds in fraudulent insurance claims,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24money which ultimately goes back in our pockets.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28From now on, fraudsters need to watch their backs.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31The message I'd give to people that are considering embarking
0:08:31 > 0:08:33on insurance fraud is, just don't do it.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37My team, day by day, are getting more sophisticated in tracking down
0:08:37 > 0:08:40the people that want to try out this type of crime.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Police! Don't move, stay where you are!
0:08:44 > 0:08:46One of the department's major headaches
0:08:46 > 0:08:49are bogus insurance sellers, known as Ghost Brokers.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54The average car insurance premium is over £400,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58but young motorists can expect to pay around three times this much,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01which makes them a lucrative target for fake car insurance sellers.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Ghost broking is where an individual will pose
0:09:06 > 0:09:08as a legitimate insurance broker.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10In fact, they are not.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14They will charge individuals a large amount of money
0:09:14 > 0:09:19and then give fraudulent details to an insurance company to obtain
0:09:19 > 0:09:22a premium which is far, far lower. They can make a lot of money for
0:09:22 > 0:09:25insurance policies that are in fact useless.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29These fraudsters pose as insurance middlemen who can cut costs,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and target drivers under 25 with insurance policies
0:09:32 > 0:09:35a few hundred quid less than the genuine products.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39The insurance policy either doesn't exist or is
0:09:39 > 0:09:42based on a completely different set of details, making the policy
0:09:42 > 0:09:46cheaper to buy, but totally invalid for the young driver.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Three years ago, First Central Insurance
0:09:49 > 0:09:52found themselves the victim of a prolific fraudster,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and one man that knows the case all too well
0:09:55 > 0:09:57is Glenn Marr, Director of Fraud.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02At the end of 2011, we noticed some unusual transactions.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Insurance companies rate people on a number of factors.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06That's how we determine whether we insure somebody
0:10:06 > 0:10:09and how we set the premium for the risk.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10On these particular cases,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14there was a high number of years of No Claim Bonus, unusually high.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16When we factored it all together,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18all of it pointed to something being wrong.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21A number of identical No Claim Discount letters,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25claiming to be from another insurer, soon highlighted the fraud.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28This particular Ghost Broker spent time and energy
0:10:28 > 0:10:30in producing forged documents.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33That shows that they understood the insurance process quite well,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36were quite committed in the way they were committing the fraud.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38One of our mechanisms for detecting fraud
0:10:38 > 0:10:40is picking up forged documents,
0:10:40 > 0:10:41so by way of producing the documents,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45they actually opened the door for us to investigate even further.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48The fake documents were the final piece of the jigsaw.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50This Ghost Broker had given the game away,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53and the case was referred to IFED in 2012.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58This particular policy here was incepted,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02here it says on the 24th September of last year,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05and the person accepting that policy
0:11:05 > 0:11:10has paid an initial amount of £345.29.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Now, the policy holder in this case
0:11:12 > 0:11:17I have spoken to since his policy was incepted and he has informed me
0:11:17 > 0:11:23that he has paid in excess of £1,000 to this particular suspect.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27So, there we go, just on one policy, he's paid £345,
0:11:27 > 0:11:33yet he's received in excess of £1,000 in cash from the policy holder.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37So that just demonstrates exactly how much money he's making.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40With the evidence stacked against him, Mark and the team
0:11:40 > 0:11:44head north to visit 33-year-old Attique Khan.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49IFED believe the insurance scam was being run from here until 2012.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51We're going to go there today now and arrest him.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54We're then going to hopefully conduct a search of the address.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And what I'm expecting to find, or what I'm looking for,
0:11:57 > 0:12:02is computer equipment, mobile telephones and any documentation.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07It's quite easy for these Ghost Brokers to set up.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11All they really need is a laptop, computer, any access to the internet
0:12:11 > 0:12:14and one or two e-mail addresses.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17We're aware of insurance policies that have been incepted
0:12:17 > 0:12:19through First Central Insurance.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23There's four officers out, including myself, today.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Three will go to the front door and hope to secure entry at the front door.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29However, one officer will go to the rear of the premises,
0:12:29 > 0:12:34just in case our man decides to try and escape through the back door
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and over some garden fences.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38It's the next road up on the right.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Right, there's the address.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48It's a dangerous job, as the police don't know
0:12:48 > 0:12:51how the unsuspecting fraudster will react.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Right, are you ready, guys?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57After donning stab vests, they go knocking.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07Window?
0:13:07 > 0:13:09CCTV.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11- Morning.- Morning, it's the police.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Can you come down and let us in, please?
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Thank you.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16Morning.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Detective Sergeant Mark Foster from the City of London Police.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21- Are you Mr Khan?- Yeah. - Attique Khan?- Yeah.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Mind if I come in for a second, please, mate? Thank you.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28IFED have their man, but the cameras remain outside.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32Obviously, we've gone in and we've arrested the suspect on suspicion
0:13:32 > 0:13:35of fraud offences by false representation.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38Initially, he was a little bit surprised.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41I've obviously explained to him in a little bit of detail
0:13:41 > 0:13:43what we are investigating
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and he has basically indicated to me
0:13:45 > 0:13:50that he is aware of the offences, he has knowledge.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52That's all he's said at the moment.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Obviously, I'm not going to interview him at this time.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58That will all be done on tape back at the police station.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02With the search under way, it's not long before they strike gold.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Khan's computer and a couple of scanners have been seized,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07which have the potential to knock up counterfeit documents
0:14:07 > 0:14:09and to create bogus policies.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15It just shows that he's got all of the equipment and the capabilities
0:14:15 > 0:14:18to commit the type of fraud that we are investigating.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22He can easily, sort of, scan documents and send on policies
0:14:22 > 0:14:26and documentation relating to insurance companies
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and motor insurance to his prospective customers.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33I think I'm going to need a bigger car.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37With the haul from the house looking good,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Mark and his team turn their attention to the car outside,
0:14:41 > 0:14:43hoping for further incriminating evidence.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Under here is our sort of compartment in the boot,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53which has got lots and lots of paperwork, correspondence,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56a letter, there, from Swinton Insurance.
0:14:56 > 0:15:02Large amounts of documents within that we've taken. All seized.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Right, I've got loads of documentation in the back, here.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07I'm going to bag that up as one.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11- I'll leave these three in the back seat for now.- Leave them here.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Yeah? You've got enough room?
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Get in your way.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19As the evidence mounts up,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22the officers make careful notes on everything they find.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27Ultimately, we've found large amounts of insurance documentation,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Lots of letters from various different insurance companies
0:15:30 > 0:15:33to various different individuals, names, addresses,
0:15:33 > 0:15:38all around most trade policies, insurance, motor cover.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40There's always that possibility,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42and we do find it happens quite a lot,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44where once we get a foot in the door and we start searching
0:15:44 > 0:15:45and looking under things,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48we find that it's a lot bigger than first thought.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52After you. Just jump in that silver motor, all right?
0:15:52 > 0:15:55With all the evidence gathered and a suspect arrested,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58it's been a good day for the IFED team.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Right, just jump in behind the passenger seat, please. All right.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Two years later, and IFED now had a clear case against Mr Khan,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17who soon found himself in the dock at the Old Bailey.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21After some extensive enquiries and a long investigation,
0:16:21 > 0:16:26Mr Khan was charged with a number of counts of fraud and forgery.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29The evidence against Mr Khan was so damning
0:16:29 > 0:16:33that he had no alternative but to plead guilty at court.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36He was given a 12 month term of imprisonment.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41Historically, ghost broking has been looked upon by fraudsters
0:16:41 > 0:16:42as an easy way to make money.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46My message is, to those individuals,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50that IFED are investigating ghost brokers
0:16:50 > 0:16:55and will be looking to get the largest penalties at court
0:16:55 > 0:16:56for those offences.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04With congestion on Britain's roads getting worse,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07there's more chance than ever of finding yourself in a jam.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10However boring sitting in slow traffic may be,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13you owe it to yourself to keep an eye on the car in front.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18The claim was notified to us by our customer as a minor collision.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21He was driving home from the library one January morning.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24He told us that he had been travelling very slowly.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27There were roadworks at the time with the traffic light control,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29so it was stop-start, stop-start, stop-start,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32heavy congestion going forwards,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and that he had just tapped into the vehicle in front of him.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39This sounds like the sort of run-of-the-mill mishap
0:17:39 > 0:17:41that happens on our roads every day.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44So you can imagine their surprise when a claim arrived
0:17:44 > 0:17:47from the very motorist they bumped at very low speed.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50The driver of the other vehicle, a lady aged 50,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53was claiming £15,000 for personal injury,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56£12,500 for ongoing care,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and £770 for a coat that was damaged.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03We became suspicious, because the circumstances described to us
0:18:03 > 0:18:06by our customer did not match up in any way, shape or form
0:18:06 > 0:18:08with what the claimant was alleging had happened.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Now faced with two conflicting accounts of the same incident,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15the insurers began the search for the truth.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18The police report identified a witness who had seen the collision,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21and we subsequently spoke to him and he was happy to give us a statement
0:18:21 > 0:18:23as to what he had seen at the time.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27He was a foreman on the roadworks where the accident occurred.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29He described the accident as happening at a very low speed.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32He said slower than a slow walk.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35He said the damage to both vehicles was extremely minor
0:18:35 > 0:18:39and that the claimant's behaviour on the day was very strange.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42She made a complete song and dance of the incident,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45was clutching her neck, demanded that an ambulance be rung,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47and that she be put on a stretcher to leave the scene.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Her behaviour at the scene was described as being claim-orientated,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54as if she was trying to set herself up
0:18:54 > 0:18:57for a substantial personal injury claim later.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00The woman's story sounded pretty fishy.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02As she was still keen to pursue the claim,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04it would be up to the courts to decide.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07The case was listed for a court hearing,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10but the claimant failed to show up on the day.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12The case was, therefore, dismissed by the judge,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16who awarded us costs in the sum of £9,000.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18These have now been fully recovered.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Whiplash claims are a fraudster's utopia.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24They can claim for thousands of pounds in personal injuries,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28but the problem is, the symptoms are often subjective.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Christian Worsfold is a physiotherapist
0:19:30 > 0:19:33who advises the government as they look to clamp down
0:19:33 > 0:19:35on this compensation culture.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38My role at the Ministry of Justice advising the government
0:19:38 > 0:19:41relates to improving the medical evidence that's collected
0:19:41 > 0:19:43following a whiplash injury
0:19:43 > 0:19:48and, also, improving the training and accreditation of the medical experts
0:19:48 > 0:19:51who carry out the examinations following whiplash injury.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Accidents are down and cars are now safer,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58yet road collision personal injury claims
0:19:58 > 0:20:01have increased 60% since 2006.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05The government believes over half a million whip-cash claims
0:20:05 > 0:20:08are excessive, and, last year, passed a new law
0:20:08 > 0:20:10to tackle the issues.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I think the medical examination can be improved because,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17in my experience, I have a lot of patients come back
0:20:17 > 0:20:19following these medical examinations
0:20:19 > 0:20:21to tell me that they weren't in there very long,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23perhaps they didn't remove their clothing,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25they weren't examined in very much depth,
0:20:25 > 0:20:29and patients will sometimes comment that they're not surprised
0:20:29 > 0:20:31that it's actually easy to fake a whiplash injury.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Insurers estimate the claims currently add £90
0:20:35 > 0:20:38to an average motor insurance policy.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41By improving diagnosis and making challenging cases easier,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45the government hopes the UK will lose its unenviable title
0:20:45 > 0:20:48of The Whiplash Capital of Europe and cut costs.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56When the washing machine blows up or the kids break the telly,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00buying a replacement is yet another cost you can do without.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03To protect against these minor home emergencies,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07over 75% of households in the UK now have contents insurance.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Mr Johnson took out a policy with us in 2012
0:21:13 > 0:21:17and, within two days of taking out the policy with us,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20he made a claim for a fridge freezer
0:21:20 > 0:21:24which he said was damaged when he moved house.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28As the claim was made just two days after the policy was taken out,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30the insurers were immediately suspicious,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and they decided to probe a little further.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38We decided to just look at Mr Johnson's insurance history
0:21:38 > 0:21:42and, when we did that, we were, frankly, amazed
0:21:42 > 0:21:47at the amount of previous claims that he had made,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49which he had failed to disclose to us
0:21:49 > 0:21:52when he took the policy out with us.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55It turned out that Mr Johnson hadn't just begun
0:21:55 > 0:21:57with a single fridge freezer.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00We found out that Mr Johnson had actually made claims
0:22:00 > 0:22:05with a variety of other insurers for three fridge freezers,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09two televisions and other equipment,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12which you are under an obligation to declare to an insurer
0:22:12 > 0:22:14when you take out a policy.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17He hadn't declared any of those to us.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20They were clearly dealing with a serial claimer,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22so the case was escalated to IFED.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Mr Johnson had been frozen out.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Whilst this was a relatively small claim,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32the fact that he had failed to disclose
0:22:32 > 0:22:34so many previous claims,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and the level of nondisclosure,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40we decided to report Mr Johnson's case
0:22:40 > 0:22:43to the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Mr Johnson was arrested
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and soon appeared at the City of London Magistrates' Court.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52He was found guilty and ordered to complete 40 hours community service
0:22:52 > 0:22:55and pay the £510 in court costs.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58I think the lesson here for Mr Johnson,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02and anybody else who might be tempted to act like him,
0:23:02 > 0:23:07is that insurers do share information in order to detect fraud.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11There are databases which insurers can search,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15and these include, now, the new Insurance Fraud Register,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18where those people who are proven fraudsters
0:23:18 > 0:23:20will be filed to the Insurance Fraud Register
0:23:20 > 0:23:24and that will be available for all insurers to look up in the future.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35With a record 29 million cars now on Britain's roads,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37that's a huge amount of motor insurance needed
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and a lot of potential accidents around every corner.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43The main business of Accident Exchange
0:23:43 > 0:23:45is to provide hire vehicles
0:23:45 > 0:23:47for people involved in non-fault accidents,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49so if you're involved in an accident
0:23:49 > 0:23:51and it's not your fault,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Accident Exchange can provide you with a like-for-like replacement car.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56We have about 3,000 vehicles,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59probably about £50 million worth of cars.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03With having a fleet of over 3,000 vehicles,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06it's inevitable that some of our vehicles are involved in accidents.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08Unfortunately for Neil and his team,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11some of these accidents aren't always what they seem.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15What we found out is, because some clients use a hire car
0:24:15 > 0:24:17which is covered on corporate insurance,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20then maybe they think they won't be investigated.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21They are investigated.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Incredibly, Neil's cars are fitted
0:24:24 > 0:24:27with the equivalent of an aeroplane's black box recorder,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and these telematics devices help investigators determine
0:24:30 > 0:24:32what happened to a car.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37Telematics is new technology that's fitted to some vehicles,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40not every vehicle, that will give us an immense amount of data.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Most telematics devices now can tell us the location of the vehicle,
0:24:45 > 0:24:51the speed, the direction of travel, how it's being driven.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53It's one piece of the jigsaw
0:24:53 > 0:24:55in relation to an accident investigation.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Martin Bramwell is managing director of a telematics company
0:25:01 > 0:25:04working alongside APU, and is the go-to tech guy
0:25:04 > 0:25:07who can explain the science behind the data.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12The black box in this vehicle, or telematics unit, if you like,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14is collecting data all of the time.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Approximately every one minute,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22we will collect the location and direction of travel of the vehicle,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26but it will also collect driving behaviours
0:25:26 > 0:25:29that are considered abnormal as soon as they occur.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36Fast accelerations greater than something around 0-60 in ten seconds
0:25:36 > 0:25:40are recorded as a harsh acceleration event.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43We can also detect harsh swerving.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47So, for instance, going around roundabouts or corners
0:25:47 > 0:25:51in too hard a manner will also register as a bad driving behaviour.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59The computer system at HQ has been receiving communications
0:25:59 > 0:26:01from the car's black box device.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Now, back at the office, Martin analyses the data.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07This is the start of the journey, clearly marked.
0:26:07 > 0:26:13Each one of these blue dot indicates the location and the date and time,
0:26:13 > 0:26:15together with its direction of travel.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20Occasionally, we will see these harsh braking event markers
0:26:20 > 0:26:23which, in this case, have occurred just as the vehicle
0:26:23 > 0:26:26has been approaching some junctions.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29It's exactly this kind of electronic information that proved
0:26:29 > 0:26:33worth its weight in gold to the accident investigations team.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Whenever there's a claim, what we will do is investigate it
0:26:36 > 0:26:37to the best of our ability,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40using all the tools we have available to us.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45There was a claim that came to my attention where a client
0:26:45 > 0:26:47had said that, whilst on hire,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51he had had a collision in the vehicle.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Probably a low speed collision,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57nothing significant that was going to cause a lot of damage to the vehicle.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01In a side road, so no CCTV opportunities,
0:27:01 > 0:27:06no independent witnesses, just a quiet road on a residential estate.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10There were three personal injury claims in the other vehicle.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14The value of this claim was around about £20,000. A lot of money.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17With a lack of supporting evidence and no footage of the incident,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20it was hard to tell whether either party was telling the truth.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25Luckily for APU, technology became the expert witness.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28We looked at the telematics device and, significantly,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31at the time of him saying that a collision had occurred,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34the vehicle was two miles away in a totally different location.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39With this collision, we can say that it never actually occurred.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43From that, the personal injury claims were withdrawn.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46It was now becoming increasingly obvious
0:27:46 > 0:27:49that both the claimant and the driver weren't being honest.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52There were significant similarities between the client's case
0:27:52 > 0:27:56and the third party's case which tended to suggest, for me,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59with hindsight, that they had perhaps collaborated
0:27:59 > 0:28:01in relation to making this claim up
0:28:01 > 0:28:04with a view to trying to get a personal injury claim forward
0:28:04 > 0:28:07that wasn't going to be challenged, because it's a big hire company,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10no-one's going to investigate it, and they were wrong.