The insurance specialist said that it detected more than 3,000 organised crash for cash claimants last year – or one every three hours – with one-in-four of these claims occurring in Birmingham. 

It added that the number of “staged” (when two damaged cars are brought together to make it look like an accident) and bogus accidents detected by Aviva fell by 40%, as tougher fraud prevention tools at the point of sale stopped fraudsters accessing Aviva’s products.

Motor fraud remains the largest source of fraud Aviva detects, representing 60% of all claims fraud with a value of £58m. One-in-nine whiplash claims submitted to Aviva is tainted by fraud, and Aviva has more than 17,000 suspicious whiplash claims under investigation, with 4,000 motor injury claims linked to known fraud rings.

Tom Gardiner, head of fraud, Aviva, saidK “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.

“Crash for cash does not just push up premiums for genuine customers, it puts innocent motorists at risk. It is also a significant drain on scarce public resources such as ambulance, police and A&E time, all of which are wasted on these entirely bogus claims. The number of whiplash claims is a problem unique to the UK and needs urgent reform.

“We support the proposals outlined by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, which included Aviva’s call for removing compensation from minor, short-term injuries. We believe this will end the gravy train for fraudsters, and we have pledged to pass 100% of the savings from the reforms on to our customers.”

Aviva’s data also showed that Birmingham cemented its position as the nation’s crash for cash capital by increasing its share of these claims from 19% in 2014 to 25% last year. In fact, Aviva detected more induced accidents in Birmingham than the rest of the ‘Top 10’ locations combined.

Top 10 locations for induced accidents in 2015: