A FRAUDSTER purchased broken down and damaged cars to use in phoney insurance claims in a bid to try and scam about £25,000.
Michael Smith, 47, claimed he had been involved in a car crash, then said the same vehicle had been stolen from outside of his home, then made another false claim involving a separate vehicle.
He also took out a three-day car insurance policy for a Toyota Rav-4 in the name of Michael Gold in September 2019.
On the last day of the policy, Smith called the insurer to report he had been involved in a crash earlier that day near Chelmsford, Essex – around 30 miles from his home in Wood Green, north London.
He claimed his vehicle skidded in the rain and hit a tree, causing major damage to the front of the car – leaving him with a nosebleed and headache.
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The car was picked up by a vehicle recovery company on the same day and taken into storage.
Smith amended a separate existing policy he held with Aviva to cover the same Toyota Rav-4, then two days later, Smith called Aviva to report the car had been stolen overnight from outside his home.
During this call he confirmed he bought the car on the day he amended his policy.
Investigators then discovered a car auction company was already storing a Toyota Rav-4 with the same number plate over a claim with another insurer.
When the insurance firm went to the storage site where the car had been held for three months, it was confirmed it was the same vehicle, so could not have been stolen from Smith’s home.
When fraud cops raided Smith’s home they discovered evidence showing the car in the names of both Michael Smith and Michael Gold.
The vehicle recovery company told police the Toyota Rav-4 had rust, damage and cobwebs when they collected it, while the staff member who collected the vehicle also said the car’s battery was dead.
Investigators traced the ownership of the car, which revealed it had been bought from a salvage car dealer in a damaged state on the day Smith claimed it was involved in a crash.
The letting company confirmed they never sold cars and the headed receipt Smith produced was fake.
Around a month before the crash claim, Smith amended his policy to cover a Mercedes-Benz, then contacted Aviva the next day to report it had been in a crash while driving to get an MOT.
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He said a vehicle in front of him had indicated to turn but carried on driving straight ahead, causing Smith to swerve and collide with a large stone in the process.
There was major damage to the vehicle and the airbags had been deployed, he said.
Smith gave Aviva proof of purchase for the Mercedes from the same lettings company he would later claim to have bought the Toyota Rav-4 from.
Officers looked into the history of the Mercedes and discovered the car had been damaged in a collision in May 2019, with dashcam footage to prove this.
The vehicle was then passed onto a salvage car dealer and bought by Smith already damaged four days before the alleged crash.
Checks with the DVLA also revealed the name on Smith’s driving record had been changed five times.
At the Old Bailey on Wednesday, Smith was jailed for two years, suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and to pay £6,318.78 in compensation and costs.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation in June at Westminster Magistrates Court.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.