A LAW firm in Bolton has warned local councils that would-be fraudsters are turning to pothole trips as a way of making money — as the opportunities to make suspicious whiplash claims falls.

According to Middlebrook-based Keoghs, local authorities can be sued for failing to maintain the road if people trip up and are injured.

Fraudsters either deliberately trip, or claim an unrelated injury was caused by the public body’s negligence — making the council liable.

The problem has increased so much that Keoghs, which also has offices in Manchester and Coventry, has expanded its casualty fraud team.

In the last year, the firm has seen a big jump in the number of pothole claims it has been asked to investigate for insurers — including several claims submitted at the same time for the same pothole.

Keoghs’ director of fraud rings, Ruth Needham, said: “Historically, casualty has often been seen as an area where claims are negotiated with the aim of getting rid of them quickly and, where fraud is suspected, it has tended to be opportunistic.

“However, in the last 12 months we have seen such an increase, especially in pothole claims, that we have asked ourselves, where they are coming from.

“Our evidence seems to suggest that these claims are in fact becoming much more organised.”

Last year, Keoghs says it helped insurance companies save £37 million from organised fraud rings. Ms Needham expects that figure to increase as fraudsters move from motor claims into casualty claims, where detection systems are not as advanced.

The firm, whose Counter-Fraud Services (CFS) division is the largest and one of the longest established specialist units in the UK, has also seen a rise in credit hire fraud, where storage, recovery and car hire prices are over-inflated.

Ms Needham added: “Casualty and credit hire fraud have been growing steadily. We have seen a peak this year, which I expect to continue.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a 30 per cent to 40 per cent increase in credit hire and casualty, which is why councils and local authorities should be worried.”