Warning on staged car accidents

The cost of motor insurance is being driven up because an increasing number of people are "staging" accidents, a report by MPs has concluded.

The insurance industry should fund a dedicated police unit to stamp out false car insurance claims, the report by the House of Commons Transport Committee said. The AA said average premiums quoted for comprehensive cover increased by almost 30 per cent in the year to October 2010.

Committee chairman Louise Ellman said: "The police made plain that 'staged accidents' are on the increase and that, so far, we have been lucky there have been no fatalities resulting from such incidents. That luck may run out unless the insurance industry acts rapidly to help the police target this kind of insurance fraud."