What is ‘Crash for Cash and Flash for Crash’? 

 

In its simplest form, ‘Crash for Cash’ is what it says. A fraudster, realising that the law and insurance companies operate a presumption of fault against a driver who collides with the rear of the car in front of them, will stop suddenly and without reason. 

 

What is involved? Who is doing it? 

 

The resulting collision will be settled in their favour for the cash value of their car (which would normally have had little or no value otherwise). However, they will also be paid out for any “injuries” – usually whiplash – which they claim to have suffered. This sum will often be greater than the value of the car. As this scam became more widespread, it began to involve a passenger, or quite often passengers, who also claim to be injured and who act as witnesses. 

 

Targeting the vulnerable 

 

In order to avoid detection those involved in carrying out the scam started preying on lone females and the elderly; both groups being more likely to think or accept that they had done something wrong. Company and goods vehicles were also targeted in more sophisticated scams using two or more vehicles, recently featured in the media. 

 

How will an in-car camera / dash cam help? 

 

Organised fraud, alone, costs the motor insurance industry – and therefore all of us – a staggering £400 million every year!. Other, less organised fraud costs us as much again. If you are using an in-car DVR also known as a dash cam you can prove what happened, and that you were driving safely. 

 

What’s more, the images you capture will assist the police in arresting and prosecuting those involved, who will otherwise simply move on to their next victim. 

 

 

 

Good drivers – the careful, considerate and courteous – are put at risk by those who choose to ignore the rules. Good, careful young drivers pay hugely inflated insurance premiums due to the perceived risk. Not helped by the careless and sometimes criminal use of vehicles on the road. 

 

PoliceWitness.com can help to reduce both the physical and the financial risk. 

 

The use of an in-car digital video camera (DVR ‘Black Box’), also known as a 'dash cam' of the right specification, will capture not only the rare unfortunate accident but also the collision caused by careless, inconsiderate or even dangerous driving. 

 

Not only will PoliceWitness.com potentially reduce your insurance premium, we will save your “excess” if you are not at fault. And that insurance excess - anywhere between £200 and £1000 - is lost by 75% of drivers involved in a collision! You will lose your excess unless there is overwhelming evidence to support you – even when you have driven faultlessly. Policewitness.com can change that. 

 

Insurance companies can ONLY offer reduced premiums in response to reduced risk. With our help, you can PROVE you are a safe driver, meaning cheaper insurance. 

 

The benefits to all Young Drivers can be even greater (particularly following the European Court ruling meaning insurance companies cannot discriminate in favour of female drivers) because of the huge premiums involved. Male and female, newly qualified and the experienced, can benefit from reductions of hundreds of pounds if you can prove your driving is in accordance with the law. 

 

PoliceWitness.com has concerns about the costs levied on young drivers. 

 

How can it be right that an 18 year old is charged £3000+ for their car insurance, regardless of their driving skills or habits? 

 

PoliceWitness.com seeks to change the way young drivers are assessed, to the benefit of both the young driver and the insurance industry. 

 

The ‘no-claims’ bonus discount scheme takes a minimum of three years to effectively cut a premium by half. Therefore under the current ‘insurance risk’ considerations, a young driver would have paid a disproportionate amount of money for their insurance during this period, when compared to the value of their vehicle. 

 

This is wrong and may tempt drivers to risk driving their vehicles without insurance! This puts both them and other drivers at substantial risk, so we MUST change the system. 

 

How? The only way is to use technology to prove to insurers that a young driver is driving safely, responsibly and in accordance with the law. In doing so, they demonstrate they are a safe driver, and therefore should pay less for their insurance. 

 

 

PoliceWitness.com is committed to changing driver habits. Those habits are often portrayed as those of the stereotypical young male – fast, brash and rash. 

 

The driving habits are actually those of a far wider group - as much as twenty years older - and often female. We must not forget that many young males do not fit this stereotype and are actually careful and considerate drivers. 

 

It’s not just the collisions that those with poor driving habits are involved in, it’s those that they cause (ironically, an accusation which those drivers level in turn at the elderly, who may at times be excessively cautious). Across the pages of this website PoliceWitness.com offers help, support and guidance whether it is your own driving habits you wish to improve or whether you want to better understand how you can impact directly upon the driving habits of those who put others at risk. 

 

We can all be more aware of our own driving. 

 

A secondary way in which PoliceWitness.com can contribute towards changing driver habits is by helping all of us to be more aware of our own driving and of that around us. Utilising the right technology, together with the best advice can save most drivers over 20% on both the cost of fuel and the cost of parts such as tyres. 

 

 

 

PoliceWitness.com has engaged with the insurance industry to identify the best ways to save our members money. Members can click here for cheaper insurance. 

 

This has also enabled us to identify for them significant reductions in the time they need to process your claims. The evidence which PoliceWitness.com can use to support you in going to your insurance company will enable them to: 

 

•Recognise clearly any fault 

 

•Refute any claims from the other driver or company 

 

•Avoid lengthy and expensive legal disputes 

 

•And indeed avoid the unnecessary administration involved in initial exchanges 

 

Capturing the right evidence 

 

Depending upon the equipment which has been used, the images captured with the help of PoliceWitness.com can even support your claim for injuries and/or damages. Once such issues become involved, claims will normally take months and even years to settle. With the right evidence this can be reduced dramatically, meaning less stress and inconvenience. 

 

Recovering your vehicle 

 

Perhaps most frustrating is not being able to recover your vehicle when it has been stolen. It can often be weeks before either the police find it or an insurer agrees to pay out. Using our technology, your vehicle can be found in minutes...so what do you think happens to your insurance quote when an insurer knows that you are a PoliceWitness? 

 

 

In the event of an accident here is how to get cash back with our help, follow our advice: 

 

Don’t tell your insurer that you have an in-car camera / dash cam, report your accident as you normally would. Your insurer will wait for a response from the other the party involved the accident. The other party will be likely to deny liability even though they probably admitted liability to you at the time of the accident. 

 

Insurers tend not go to court, instead they operate a knock-for-knock policy (A knock-for-knock agreement is an agreement between two insurance companies whereby, when both companies' policy-holders incur losses in the same insured event (usually a motor accident), each insurer pays the losses sustained by its own policy-holder regardless of who was responsible). 

 

This may result in you losing your no claims and your premium going up the following year. Here is what we can do; for an example, assume the repairs would cost £2000, we would then represent you and contact you insurer directly, advising that we understand they are about to spend £2000 to have you, their clients car repaired. We would ask if it would be helpful if they had video evidence proving that you, their client is not at fault, saving them the £2000 repair cost. We would then negotiate reduction of next year’s premium or cash back on your behalf. Click here for more information.