News: Vauxhalls most likely to be involved in crashes for cash

VAUXHALL OWNERS are more likely to be targeted by cash-for-crash scammers than any other car drivers, according to a legal firm that has analysed 5,500 fraudulent insurance claims.

Astras are the cars most commonly involved in staged crashes, in which crooks suddenly brake or swerve in front of another vehicle to cause an accident. They are then able to make inflated claims for injuries such as whiplash.

The Vectra and Corsa are the next most likely cars to be involved in fraudulent crashes. These three models are involved in 27.4% of fraudulent claims, but only 23% of all insurance claims.

Only van drivers with Ford Transits are more susceptible to staged accidents. Hill Dickinson, the commercial law firm that carried out the research, suggests that criminals may be targeting cars most likely to be company cars, which they calculate will be fully insured and whose drivers they assume will be less likely to argue about the cause of the collision.