Birmingham named 'crash for cash' capital of England

'We remain very concerned that fraudsters continue to put their own greed ahead of innocent motorists’ safety,' insurance firm says

Aviva is currently investigating 17,000 suspicious whiplash claims (Getty)

Birmingham has been named the ‘crash for cash’ capital of England, it has been revealed, with 750 ‘organised accidents’ in the city being reported to one insurance company alone.

A total of 3,000 fraudulent claims were made to Aviva in 2015, a quarter of which came from Birmingham.

The firm said the capital city was also a hotspot for bogus claims, with North London coming in second to Birmingham and East London following close behind.

Fraudulent crashes are usually ‘induced accidents’, where a fraudulent driver targets innocent motorists in order to claim whiplash compensation.

They also include 'staged’ crashes, where two drivers purposely crash into each other and make it look like an accident.

Aviva say one in nine whiplash claims submitted to the company are fraudulent, with 17,000 suspicious whiplash claims currently under investigation.

It says the number of staged crashes in the UK has fallen 40 per cent since 2014, thanks to tougher “fraud prevention tools” preventing fraudulent customers from accessing their products.

Induced accidents, however, have only fallen two per cent, prompting concerns over the safety of innocent motorists.

Tom Gardiner, head of fraud at Aviva, said: “We remain very concerned that fraudsters continue to put their own greed ahead of innocent motorists’ safety.

“Our figures show induced accidents now account for nearly half of all organised motor fraud we detect.”

Mr Gardiner also said bogus whiplash claims put strain on public resources by wasting police, hospital and ambulance time.

In his 2015 autumn statement, Chancellor George Osborne pledged to reform the “compensation culture” surrounding minor motor accident injuries.

The right to claim cash compensation for minor whiplash will be taken away, and victims can instead claim back money spent on rehabilitation and treatment.

The Chancellor claimed reforms would “remove over £1bn from the cost of providing motor insurance”.