Flash for Cash – Warning for Motorists

It appears that changes aimed at reducing the number of Cash for Crash incidents has had an unforseen side effect.

Motorists are now being warned of a new tactic being employed by criminals running ‘crash for cash’ fraud rings..

According to research, flashing headlights to entice innocent drivers into the path of a deliberate collision at junctions or while exiting fuel stations, has emerged as a worrying trend since the turn of the year.

The process has been dubbed “flash-for-crash”.

Pat Towers, the private client development executive from Russell Scanlan comments

“This new tactic by the criminals makes it hard for an innocent party to prove where fault lay in the event of a legal dispute.”

She added, “the tactic had arisen following the clamp down by insurers, the police and authorities on fraudulent staged crashes such as roundabout rear-end accidents.”

“It is yet another example of how criminal gangs are becoming more sophisticated and attempting to exploit loopholes in the insurance claim system”.

“The adoption of flashing headlights and beckoning the driver results in a ‘your word against mine' situation when it comes to apportioning blame.

“By appearing to offer the right of way, the criminal simply continues his journey into a collision, holding the victim at fault for turning across him which, of course, cannot be denied under law.”

Mrs Towers advises, “if anyone is unfortunate to become involved in a suspicious incident, they should remain calm, take photos of the accident, record the number of people in the other vehicle and  try to call for witnesses to the accident.”