dombanks Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I've followed this thread and seen the subject covered on TV. I'm getting the impression that a lot of these fake accidents take place in the Birmingham area. It's difficult to understand why the Police don't take more action. A few prosecutions followed by 2 or 3 year custodial sentences may well stop the practice. i suspect it will be a resource issue rather than them not wanting to do anything. there's probably a load of coppers chomping at the bit to get these poeple but if its difficult to prove and the insurance companies just want to pay out as its cheaper then they probably have thier hands tied. like cireoli said just be aware and keep some distance. i think we have to becareful not to daemonise "aisians" in cars some will be genuine accidents. i know the ther day on the m42 (the bit btween the m40 and m6) an old micra with 5 "aisians" cut right across the z4. her indoors was driving at the time and i said ooo i wonder if they were tying to cause a accident. probably not... more likely just **** driving. She reconed they would have had no insurance. thing is they were just 5 lads late teens in a micra. I remember being a 17yr old in a crappy old £200 yugo with 4 of my mates and i probably drove just as bad. glad everyone is ok and i hope it can be stopped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustCallMeMac Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 While I was driving across town today I had the vehicle in front of me slam their brakes on, lock up and grind to a halt! There was no traffic coming in opposite direction, nothing behind me, nothing in front of them and no cars parked at side of the road (No Witnesses?). As they stopped the two front door opened, at this point I'm checking rear mirrors and getting ready to back out and get moving! The two "Asian" blokes walking towards me had camera phones out ready and passenger was rubbing his neck. The driver was shouting "What you doing? Are you F'ng stupid? you've driven into me!!!" At which point I shouted something I can not write on here (Not racist, but swearing), but basically calling him stupid as there was a clear 3 feet between me and him! Anyone that owns a Westfield knows that that extra bit of space is a good idea and this time I was lucky that I left more than enough room. This is clearly a failed scam attempt. I reported it to the local police station and am publicising it on here and anywhere else that I can. These are the people that put premiums up and clearly should be behind bars... or deported! I think we should pull British residents out of the Falklands and turn it into a huge prison island. Kinda like what they did with Australia! This was in Birmingham, Winson Green area, but i suggest everyone just give that extra car length. I was lucky and nothing happened... but could've been another accident to add to the list in Birmingham! That's scarily similar to my daughter's experience, which I posted to start this thread. Makes your blood boil doesn't it?! Apart from putting her life at risk and not considering the potential consequences of forcing an emergency stop, the hassle her sudden lack of transport is causing is a logistics nightmare, which friends and family are doing their best to cover. In addition I hate to think how her insurance premiums will be affected next year, especially after seeing her premium drop considerably, after an incident-free first year on the road. I wish I had got there quicker to help her out but then again I might be waiting to see the magistrate if I had! I've followed this thread and seen the subject covered on TV. I'm getting the impression that a lot of these fake accidents take place in the Birmingham area. It's difficult to understand why the Police don't take more action. A few prosecutions followed by 2 or 3 year custodial sentences may well stop the practice. Equatorial Southampton for us Norm. Police turned up and even though they advised my daughter that she had been the victim of a scam, they told her they couldn't do anything as there were no witnesses and there were more of them with a story to tell than her. And since she went in to the back of someone, she was, to all intents and purposes, at fault. However having followed Fraser's advice, it appears the insurance company are taking it seriously. Won't change the current and future consequences for my daughter but it might be that the 'bstards' in question don't get anywhere with a claim, if they make it and maybe worse if the issue becomes a police matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User0083 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 As stated "I was lucky, I stopped with a couple of feet to spare, in reverse and expecting to bug out and test out my driving skills!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag68 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 i suspect it will be a resource issue rather than them not wanting to do anything. there's probably a load of coppers chomping at the bit to get these poeple but if its difficult to prove and the insurance companies just want to pay out as its cheaper then they probably have thier hands tied. like cireoli said just be aware and keep some distance. i think we have to becareful not to daemonise "aisians" in cars some will be genuine accidents. i know the ther day on the m42 (the bit btween the m40 and m6) an old micra with 5 "aisians" cut right across the z4. her indoors was driving at the time and i said ooo i wonder if they were tying to cause a accident. probably not... more likely just **** driving. She reconed they would have had no insurance. thing is they were just 5 lads late teens in a micra. I remember being a 17yr old in a crappy old £200 yugo with 4 of my mates and i probably drove just as bad. glad everyone is ok and i hope it can be stopped Insurers do take these seriously, but I can only really speak for the one I work with. I advise my colleagues on cases such as these every day, and sometmes its just down to not enough evidence to be successful at trial or we may have a poor witness in the insured which will hamper a defence, however if after investigations we have a good robust case, we will always let it run to litigation. Its the only way to get the word out to the claimant solicitors who bring these claims that insurers are not an easy target and we are serious about taking these cases on I also note that on this thread the Asian community has been getting a bit of a bad press and as above this is not the place to demonise them. The only thing I am saying on his subject is there are a lot of cases involving Asians, however we are seeing claims from all walks of life, Eastern Europeans, Africans, Irish and even our own home grown white caucasian population, so lets not get too hung up on a particular comminity. The locales I mentioned as hotsots have a diverse population of all of the races mentioned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I was concerned by the tone as well. Glad you added that - thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhouse Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Frag68 - Very useful post - thank you. If a prosecution goes ahead, would footage from an in-car camera/recorder be admissible? Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User0083 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Sorry if "Asian's" comment targeted them and made them out to be bad. It was in this case that's the most PC way of describing them. But I have to say I've driven around Birmingham for 4 years and know a lot of people that have had issues. The cars that send shivvers up my spine are eastern European plated left hookers... I wonder how many are correctly registered, mot'd, insured or driven by licensed drivers. Mainly polish plated cars in my area and there's just something that screams out issues. There are many wealthy indian's that have fully legal cars and mates have had them offer to pay cash and keep insurance out of it, paid cash, sorted. I've had a guy say "Get a quote for repair and I'll pay it for you."... He did and it worked. He was of Asian decent, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I'd like them to try that trick on us in a unimog (nearly 7 tonnes) and an log trailer (18 tonnes) that pulls at 55mph (never knowingly overloaded honest) Plus 325kg of lumberjacks in the cab...... I will brief all my kids and staff first thing in the morning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag68 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 CCTV and forward facing cameras are brilliant. At this moment, I cant remember the name of them, but I have had a couple of successful cases with what was captured on camera being used in as our defence. To plead fraud on any case we are then placed with a higher burden of proof and without good factual evidence its often hard to defend. Camera evidence is a huge asset. Alexander72, I like your thinking, however with potentially 25 tonnes it will take some stopping and therefore probably puts you at more risk. As I said in previous posts, these people are driven to doing this hrough desperation caused by lack of finances and will risk a lot for a relatively small award. Sorry to put the frighteners up people but I am very passionate about my job and want to be the caped crusader who saves the world from increased premiums through fraud which is why I have contributed so much to this thread. I drive a small van and was targeted by a group of young people from the races mentioned above just a few weeks ago, but with being aware of what goes on, was well prepared and able to stop whilst they looked and laughed a me. Yes I was seething with anger, but no harm done. All I want to do is get my point across and make people aware of the situations which can arise.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 . As I said in previous posts, these people are driven to doing this hrough desperation caused by lack of finances and will risk a lot for a relatively small award. Sorry to disagree, but those who have been caught are not some poor class of people, they are organised criminals who have seen an easy way of making money out of a weak system. I know that the companies are fighting back at last but these people have got away for it for too long and so have many who I would suggest are opportunists. I don't think I now have any drivers who when someone runs into them doesn't have whiplash injuries. They know they will get £2-£3k with no real problem as it costs more to defend than it does to pay out. Anyone who puts a false claim in in my opinion is just as guilty as these who cause the accidents deliberatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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