Moped crash scams around Barry Road/Underhill/Goodrich

[malumbu]

A repeat of my views from earlier discussions, based on four people I know/know of who have had it happen to them - all women, but not all with young children which is often the MO.

This has also happened in Lewisham - I've tried to get Safer Neighbourhood Teams to coordinate (thanks to others on this Forum)

The insurance details and the name of the rider will be false.

It sounds like the same or similar people, most likely Brazillian due to the false names adopted.  May be one, or a gang.  Newish bikes, little obvious damage following the crash, snood covering face, mobile in hand recording.  If challenged, particularly if you have a witness, then the other party will say words to the effect that they don't speak English.

Please try to 999 straight away - report that someone has crashed into you on purpose, and you feel threatened (even more so if you have young kids with you).  If there are any bystanders, even if they are not witnesses, you may wish to ask them for support - noting that the scammers pick on quiet roads, quiet times of the day and the like

Also report as dangerous riding - the 999 call should be to report the scam and then on-line dangerous riding.

By law you only have to give your name, address and registration to the other party.  But I expect giving your number is less intimidating.  Do not give a copy of your license or your insurance.  By law you can actually report your details to the police rather than the other party

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/if-youre-in-an-accident

"You must report the accident to the police within 24 hours if you do not give your details at the time of the accident."  

If/when you get the calls coming in, and this could be fairly soon after, I'd not answer and but check the number.  You will find that it is one or more of those 'no win no fee' ambulance chasers with many reporting that they are supporting the scammer.  You will not hear from the insurers as they are using false details.

If and when you do pick up a call from one an ambulance chasers tell them you are only dealing with the other party's insurers, don't call again and you will block their number.

You may not wish to inform your insurer straight away.  Government advice (above) is that you "You must also report the accident to your insurance company, even if you’re not planning to make a claim."  But there is no timing on this.  Some insurers roll over and pay up which is what the scammer wants (or you to pay them off with cash yourself as you don't want to risk your NCB); some insurers seem to be more aware that this is a scam and will dig in.  

I am not a police officer, judge, solicitor, CPS, insurer, etc, this is just from knowledge where one or more of the scammers quickly gave up.  You should eventually get a letter from the police saying that the other party is untraceable/uninsured.  They probably wont take it any further.  Hopefully by this point you will hear no more from the other party, and there is therefore no basis for any personal injury claim against you.

I understand that this is a difficult and intimidating matter, it helps of course if you have witnesses and a friend or partner to handle the follow up hassle.

 

 

 

 

[Earl Aelfheah]

On 27/05/2024 at 18:20, vladi said:

in the UK only 4% of drivers are not insured

It’s estimated to be over 9% in SE London https://www.moneyexpert.com/news/east-london-highest-percentage-uninsured-cars-capital/#:~:text=According to research conducted by,on the roads is alarming.

[Rockets]

4 hours ago, malumbu said:

It sounds like the same or similar people, most likely Brazillian due to the false names adopted. 

What on earth? Why are you trying to pin this on Brazilians? I think you should remove that, unless you have definitive proof that every incident of this is being done by Brazilians. I am pretty sure you shouldn't be making those type of prejudiced stereotyping statements.

The rest of your note seems like pretty sound advice. 

[Sue]

11 hours ago, Rockets said:

What on earth? Why are you trying to pin this on Brazilians? I think you should remove that, unless you have definitive proof that every incident of this is being done by Brazilians. I am pretty sure you shouldn't be making those type of prejudiced stereotyping statements.

The rest of your note seems like pretty sound advice. 

I may have misremembered, but I thought I had recently read (via a link on here) a newspaper article about these faked "accidents" which said  that the recent arrests by police in London were related to a Brazilian gang?

Edited 5 hours ago by Sue
Clarification

[malumbu]

The riders involved have be known to use Brazilian celebrities as their aliases.  They perhaps could be of Venezuelan, Chilean, Argentinian heritage or hail from other parts of the continent.  But it is most likely Brazil.

It's going well beyond Southwark, so it is a gang or gangs

The article on Nappy Valley reports many similar incidents, and a reference to Brazilian gangs, and the video is exactly as one reported to me with bystanders telling the rider to bugger off.

https://nappyvalleynet.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=132033

The article in Insurance Times also quotes Brazilian gangs

https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/analysis/the-rising-prominence-of-moped-crash-for-cash-fraud/1453295.article

It is useful for potential victims and the authorities to know whether one particular community is heavily involved.  Most immigrants of course are law abiding and contribute to our economy and our diverse community.  

Article from Grauniad https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/22/uk-drivers-warned-to-watch-out-for-crash-for-cash-claims

And from parliament

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2024-0107/

"The insurance industry provides some estimates on the number of claims that are related to crash for cash. For example, the Insurance Fraud Bureau, a not-for-profit company that coordinates the industry response to insurance fraud, estimated that around 170,000 car insurance claims between October 2019 and the end of 2020 were linked to crash for cash fraud schemes.

It has also estimated that annually there are 69,500 personal injury claims linked to suspected crash for cash scams (PDF) (costing the insurance industry £392 billion a year), though no particular year is given for this information."

Disappointing therefore that there is a parallel industry of ambulance chasers and dodgy lawyers involved, that insurers may roll over and just pay and that grass roots policing is not always well joined up.

 

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by malumbu