9:59am Friday 5th February 2010
A BOLTON firm of solicitors is spearheading the battle against crash-for-cash fraud.
Horwich-based Keoghs has the biggest team of lawyers in the country working on preventing or recovering fraudulently claimed insurance pay-outs.
The team is celebrating after a judge recently handed down exemplary damages of £92,000 against a group of 57 crash for cash criminals, many of whom were from Bolton.
Bolton is one of the top 10 worst towns in Britain for submitting fraudulent insurance claims.
Partner and head of Keoghs’ fraud ring unit at Horwich, Ruth Needham, said insurance scams in Bolton amount to millions of pounds every year.
Last year alone Keoghs helped stop insurance payouts or recover fraudulent claims nationally totalling around £50 million.
The company has a 150-strong anti-fraud unit, with 120 lawyers based at its Horwich offices, with the remaining 30 operating out of its Coventry site.
Mrs Needham said: “We have lawyers, intelligence units and data analysts who look at where claims are coming from and we designate hot-spots.
“We gather together all kinds of information from all kinds of places, from social network sites, addresses of claimants and so on.”
Now major insurance companies, allied to Keoghs and other legal teams, are pouring resources into investigating suspicious claims and taking court action against prolific offenders.
In a landmark civil case a 57-strong car ring, including Bolton-based criminals, who staged crash-for-cash accidents, were hauled before a judge and fined exemplary, or punishment damages, totalling £92,000.
Keoghs represented the insurance consortium.
Mrs Needham added: “Criminal gangs see organised insurance fraud as a significant opportunity to obtain funds at comparatively low risk compared to other crimes such as armed robbery or drug-dealing.
“This result sends the strongest possible message to such gangs that the insurance industry is no soft target and will fight back.”
Ursula Coulibaly, of LV, said: “This is an example of insurers working together for the benefit of both the industry and consumers.”
TOP FRAUD HOTSPOTS:
1. Bradford 2. Birmingham 3. Liverpool 4. Blackburn 5. Oldham 6. Bolton 7. Manchester 8. East London 9. Southall 10. Luton
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