Yhe Insurance Fraud Bureau has warned again of the increase in insurance ‘crash for cash’ scams that can net the perpetrators up to £30,000 per scam and has added around 5% to insurance premiums this year. As a result of this Steve Palmer of Aviva Risk Management Solutions has provided us with his top ten tips to reduce the risks and in turn reduce insurance costs:

 Accident Reporting

Report accidents quickly, give the insurer best opportunity to investigate and get the claim resolved. Provide as much evidence as possible, including sketches, photos and witness statements. Take down full particulars of other drivers and passengers as well as insurance details, vehicle registrations of all vehicles involved including likely witnesses that may not stop.

Also record all of the damage that you can see and any that may not have been caused to other vehicles by the accident. Try and carry a disposable camera to take pictures with including pictures of the driver and passengers along with those of the accident scene and vehicle damage. Be careful and stop taking pictures if it starts to lead to any confrontation, don’t put yourself at risk.

The Journey

It is an obvious one but the more miles you travel the more likely you are to have an accident so try to keep your mileage down and use public transport whenever you can. Travelling by train at off peak times, especially if you can book well in advance can be very cheap and far more relaxing.

Driver Fatigue

This is recognised as a major cause of accidents (responsible for 10% of accidents each year according to the RAC Foundation), so journey planning with rest stops is essential. Even more so if drivers are on business and as a result of the downturn feel under pressure to make more appointments and therefore drive for longer each day.

Vehicle Maintenance

Cutting costs in this area can lead to more accidents and in the long term increase costs. Driving whilst your tyre tread is on the limit increases the chances of having an accident and under inflated tyres can increase fuel consumption by 3%. If the vehicle is found to be faulty due to poor maintenance it could invalidate your insurance claim or reduce it.

Theft

Theft increases in recession so consider your car security. Don’t leave your car overnight in an area where it makes it easy for crooks to drill and drain the fuel tank or remove the precious catalytic converter. These days its not just the car the crooks are after. Make sure that even when you leave your vehicle for just a few minutes that you put anything on show in the boot. You may know that your bag or case don’t contain anything valuable but a thief doesn’t. Boxes, items of clothing and even loose change are a draw to a thief who could cause some costly damage to your car. And never leave your keys on show just inside the front or back door. If a thief can see them through the letter box he can probably steal them – this crime is growing rapidly.

Fraud

The main area of fraud to be aware of, as mentioned above, is the staged accident. You need to be aware of this and take every precaution not to get caught out. Don’t fall for the ‘my brother is a body repairer’ trick and agree to pay cash to the driver in order to save your no claims bonus. In the current climate drivers may be tempted to claim for things broken or stolen after an accident or theft that were never in the car. If you are caught out you may have the whole claim thrown out and be reported to the police. Whilst cloning is on the increase there is little you can do to prevent it. If you receive a suspicious parking ticket or speeding fine that you believe to be suspicious report it immediately to the police and your insurer.

Driver Check

If you are driving you must be legal. This means that you must have an up to date licence including your current address (up to £1,000 fine if it isn’t). Make sure that your eyesight is good and if you wear spectacles that your eyes have been tested within the last 3 years. You are driving equally illegally if you are driving under the influence of drugs as you are if driving whilst over the legal drink limit. If you are driving illegally your insurance will normally be invalidated. Driving under the influence of drugs doesn’t just apply to illegal drugs but also prescription and even over the counter drugs such as flu remedies and hay fever remedies both of which could make you drowsy and incapable of driving. Always read the labels and if they say don’t drive – don’t. Morning after drink driving is also a problem as it is difficult to know after a few too many the night before whether you are still over the limit the day after. Don’t take chances and give yourself 24hours for the system to clear itself of alcohol.

Agency Drivers

This only applies to companies. If you have to bring in temporary staff to cover for holidays and sickness you have a duty of care to ensure that they are adequately trained to drive the vehicle, if carrying goods be fit enough to lift items in and out of the vehicle and not be put under undue pressure to complete his work which could lead to him speeding or not concentrating which could end in an accident with the company carrying most of the responsibility. The same Driver Check rules apply.

Insurance Cover

Don’t leave yourself under insured. If you have a car on a lease you will be required to cover the vehicle for fully comprehensive insurance. If the car is on HP or you have a loan on it, it would be wise to also have fully comp on the vehicle. Otherwise, if the car is written off and the accident was your fault you will still have the loan to repay or the balance of finance on a hire purchase to pay and no car. Trying to save money by not taking business cover when you use the vehicle for business could be a false economy. The police carry out careful examination of the accident if they suspect that it was an ‘at work’ accident. Loss adjusters are also looking for ways not to pay out any insurance claim and if you were found to be on business without business cover you could have your claim thrown out. Also make sure that other drivers are properly covered when driving the vehicle. Don’t forget that you could lose the car if a named driver has an accident whilst over the drink drugs limit.

Vehicle Selection

Make sure that you choose a vehicle with as many safety features as you can find. ABS is now standard but the more protection you can have built in the greater the chance of you and your passengers surviving a bad accident. Check the EuroNCAP safety value and go for a vehicle with 5 stars if you can. The more air bags the better and I would like ESP (also known as ESC) fitted standard on all cars which isn’t going to happen till 2012 but it has been proven to save lives. Brake assist and traction control all add to the chances of avoiding accidents. So there you have it, take care, make sure you are properly covered and protected and you will avoid accidents and insurance claims being thrown out.

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