A North London resident was found to have purchased damaged cars to use in making fraudulent insurance claims totalling £25,000.
Michael Smith, 47, made a claim that he had been involved in a car crash, then later reported that the same vehicle was stolen from outside of his home, the Gazette & Essex County Standard reported. Smith was also found to have made another false insurance claim involving a different vehicle.
According to the report, Smith purchased a three-day car insurance policy for a Toyota RAV4 under the name of Michael Gold in September 2019. On the policy’s final day, Smith reported to the insurer that he had been involved in a crash near Chelmsford, Essex – around 30 miles from his residence in Wood Green, North London.
Smith said that the vehicle skidded in the rain before hitting a tree, leaving the car’s front severely damaged and him suffering from a nosebleed and a headache.
That same day, the car was collected by a vehicle recovery company to be placed into storage.
During the call with Aviva, Smith confirmed he bought the car on the day that he amended the insurance policy. However, investigators discovered that a car auction company was already in possession of a Toyota RAV4 that had the same licence plate number and a claim with another insurer.
The insurer’s personnel headed to the storage site and confirmed that it was the same vehicle, which meant that it could not have been stolen from Smith’s home, contrary to his claim.
Fraud police then launched a raid on Smith’s home, recovering evidence that the car was under the names of Smith and his alias of Michael Gold.
The police also learned from the vehicle recovery company that the Toyota RAV4 was rusted and filled with cobwebs when they collected it, and its battery was already dead.
The investigation revealed that the car was bought from a salvage car dealer in a damaged condition on the same day Smith claimed it was involved in a crash.
Investigators also discovered that around a month before the crash claim, Smith amended his Aviva policy to cover a Mercedes-Benz, then reported that it had been in a crash. Smith showed Aviva a proof of purchase for the Mercedes-Benz, purportedly from a lettings company he would later claim to have bought the Toyota RAV4 from.
However, the lettings company said that they never sold cars and the receipt Smith showed was a forgery.
Digging deeper into the Mercedes’ history, investigators found dashcam footage showing that it was involved in a crash in May 2019. The vehicle was taken by a salvage car dealer and was later bought by Smith.
The investigators checked with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and found that Smith’s driving record had been changed five times.
Smith was later arrested and, in June, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation.
Based on the evidence presented, the Central Criminal Court handed Smith a two-year sentence, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to do 120 hours of community work and pay £6,318.78 in compensation and costs.
