Crash for Cash incidents on the A41 & A518

Good evening Resident,

Please see the below information following an increase in community concern regarding reports of ‘Crash for Cash’ incidents along the A41 and A518 near Newport in Shropshire.

The Safer Neighbourhood Team has previously provided some similar information on Neighbourhood Matters, and more recently we have posted some information on Facebook.

If you know of any person who would benefit from the information within this message, please consider sharing it with them, or on your own social media pages.

What is ‘Crash for Cash’?

‘Crash for Cash’ collisions are a serious national problem that impact thousands of road users each year. By using dangerous and misleading driving movements, fraudsters lure innocent motorists into a collision, leaving drivers not only shaken but appearing at fault as they have collided into the back of another vehicle.  This leaves scammers in a position to make bogus insurance claims for financial compensation.

With an estimated one in every 10 motor insurance claims for personal injury linked to a ‘Crash for Cash’, the scam is sadly more common than people think.

Locally, incidents that are believed to be ‘Crash for Cash’ have typically been occurring as vehicles enter a roundabout. The vehicle in front will start to move onto the roundabout when it is clear but will then immediately slam on their brakes. The vehicle behind, not expecting this, continues into the back of the vehicle in front. On occasions, but less frequently, drivers have used the wrong lane and have made sudden movements, again causing a collision when the vehicle behind has collided with the vehicle in front. The driver of the vehicle in front will then either hand a note with their details on at the scene or ask the other driver to move to somewhere nearby to do so. In both cases they often leave quickly and this is likely so the police don’t arrive, and so the other driver doesn’t have sufficient time to consider taking photographs of damage or noting how many people are in the car.

One challenge with ‘Crash for Cash’ collisions is that although the circumstances may suggest that a collision has been staged, a ‘Crash for Cash’ collision can only really be identified when a fraudulent claim is made against the other driver. This is the point at which a fraud offence is made out, but the police may never be made aware of this. Up until that point it is a collision between two parties which the police may or may not be called out to. The current practice appears to be offenders making a personal injury claim to the insurance company of the other party.

The other challenge with ‘Crash for Cash’ is the size of the problem. We suspect a group of individuals are involved, offending all over the region, using a variety of vehicles, often on cloned number plates and providing false details to the other driver. This makes identifying the driver/ passengers involved in the collision very difficult, unless they are stopped by police in the vicinity or remain at the collision scene.

What are the police doing about it?

West Mercia Police are actively targeting this issue. We are conducting regular patrols of these routes in both marked and unmarked police vehicles. The marked vehicle patrols are to deter offending and provide reassurance, the unmarked vehicle patrols are to identify and deal with any drivers suspected of being involved in this type of offending.

The Safer Neighbourhood Team, Roads Policing Team and Response Teams all patrol these routes at various times of the day and night. Recently, our Roads Policing colleagues had cause to seize two vehicles suspected of being involved in this type of incident. 

ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Reader) cameras are being utilised to identify the movement of vehicles suspected of being involved and we are liaising with other regional police forces and sharing intelligence around this issue. We believe that the offenders may not be from the local area and are driving vehicles on cloned number plates. We have identified several vehicles of interest, some of which have been involved in collisions, others that have been seen in suspicious circumstances. 

The Safer Neighbourhood Team are also in regular contact with our colleagues who collate all police collision records, and we are sharing information around incidents and intelligence.

Updates have been provided to Parish Councils who have raised concerns.

Some people have asked us if we can consider installing CCTV cameras along these routes. West Mercia Police do not operate CCTV cameras, but consideration has been made to requesting Telford & Wrekin Council install cameras. The challenge with this would be the size of the area that is reportedly affected. Telford & Wrekin Council would not have enough CCTV cameras to cover every roundabout on the A41 and A518 near to Newport. Each roundabout would also likely need several cameras to effectively cover the whole roundabout.

We have also been asked about signs warning drivers. Again, West Mercia Police are not responsible for the signage on our highways, this would also fall to Telford & Wrekin Council. It is very unlikely that signage warning drivers could be placed as all signs placed on the highway, particular ones such as the A41 and A518, must meet government guidance. There are currently no signs that meets this criteria.

Whilst I understand that this issue is being discussed on a variety of social media platforms, this is not way to report incidents to police. We do not have the resources to scour through social media sites trying to find information and photographs that people have posted. To those of you who have shared information directly with us, thank you, this is extremeley useful..

If you have information that relates to ‘Crash for Cash’ then please report these on our website here:

Report a crime | West Mercia Police

You can also upload dash cam footage to our Operation Snap portal here:

Operation Snap | West Mercia Police

It should also be noted that if an insurance claim is made following a collision, the relevant insurance company themselves must also pay due diligence to that claim, especially if the other party has made representation that it is a fraudulent claim. The insurance companies will be the first to know of a claim, certainly before the police would be, and they should conduct their own enquiries to establish the validity of such a claim.

How can I avoid becoming a victim of a ‘Crash for Cash’ collision?

It is important to recognise that we are all responsible for our own actions while driving and that we ensure that we maintain a suitable speed and distance from the vehicle in front. By doing so we place ourselves into a much better position to be able to react to any unforeseen movement or braking by that vehicle, be that accidental or deliberate.

Rule 126 of the Highway Code states we should “Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear. You should leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front so that you can pull up safely if it suddenly slows down or stops. The safe rule is to never get closer than the overall stopping distance”.

This is the simplest (and safest) way to prevent ‘Crash for Cash’ collisions from occurring.

The second thing you can do is consider investing in a dash-cam. These are cameras that can be fitted to your vehicle and will provide vital evidence should a claim be made against you in the future. There is some information to suggest that those involved in ‘Crash for Cash’ collisions avoid targeting vehicles with dashcams fitted.

What should I do if you believe that you are a victim of a ‘Crash for Cash’?

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) are working alongside police and insurers to tackle organised insurance fraud, and its experts have compiled a list of essential tips to help drivers know what steps to take, should they fall victim to a ‘Crash for Cash’:

More information on 'Crash for Cash' can be found here:

What should you do if you're victim of a ‘Crash for Cash’? |

The most effective way for the police to target drivers involved in this type of offence is through targeted enforcement, by regular ans sustained patrols on these routes. I hope this message reassures you that we are taking these reports seriously and are working hard to address your concerns and help keep our community safe.

It is only by the community and the police working together that we can fully address these concerns. If you are aware of any information that can assist us, then please report this to us in the manner outlined in this message.

Kind regards,

Rich Edward.

PC 3988 Edward

Newport Safer Neighbourhood Officer.