BOLTON law firm Keoghs has hailed a UK-wide crackdown on car insurance fraud.

Up to 17 people have been arrested in raids across the country by detectives investigating criminal gangs making false insurance claims for courtesy cars provided to motorists while their own vehicle is being fixed.

In the police swoop, 20 warrants were executed at businesses and residential addresses in Lancashire, Essex, Hertfordshire, London, Northampton-shire, Nottinghamshire, Surrey and West Yorkshire, following investiagions by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

One hundred officers took part in the operation which saw the City of London Police unit supported by colleagues from the force’s Economic Crime Directorate and officers from local forces.

The move was applauded by Middlebrook-based Keoghs which has the largest dedicated credit hire fraud unit in the country.

Criminal gangs typically set up phoney claims management and hire companies to commit this type of insurance fraud.

Through these businesses the fraudsters will invoice insurers for a courtesy car they have not actually provided, commonly called ‘“phantom hire”.

In other instances they will “lease” the same courtesy car to different motorists at the same time and put in a separate claim for each fictional hire, often known as “cross hire”.

Sometimes they may also bill an insurer for providing a top spec courtesy car when only a basic model was given. Hire periods are also often exaggerated.

Keoghs’ director of credit hire fraud, Fraser McAndry, said: “These arrests are a clear signal of IFED’s intent to make credit hire fraud a top priority in 2014.

“Credit Hire fraud remains a sizeable problem for insurers with the onus firmly on the industry to ensure that their detection and validation processes are robust and comprehen-sive. From a small number only a few years ago, Keoghs’ credit hire team now numbers almost 100 people, handling over 23,000 claims a year resulting in savings for clients of over £12 million last year alone.

“Reflecting the increasing problem of credit hire fraud, our dedicated credit hire fraud team has also experienced consistent and considerable growth since its creation in 2011.”