It's criminal - No win, no fee claim fraud.

I confess that when I was young, I did used to occasionally daydream of carrying out a daring criminal heist. To be like Robin Hood, gathering gold from the pockets of rich men, riding off into the sunset like Jesse James, or burrowing my way to a treasure-laden bank vault. Then I grew up. Now I just daydream about what I might do on the weekend. One thing I certainly don't do, and have never done, is daydream about making a fraudulent no win, no fee claim. It just lacks the glamour somehow.

Making a fraudulent no win, no fee claim hardly belongs among the ranks of jewel-heists and exotic island based money laundering rings. In fact, in the glamour stakes it's right down there with offering to help an elderly woman with her shopping then running off with the bags.

One disgraceful example from last year is the case of 31-year-old man who was jailed for making a fraudulent no win, no fee compensation claim for an accident at work. He claimed that serious personal injuries he had sustained in a fall at work had left him wheelchair bound. Had it been successful, his compensation claim would have netted him more than ?1 million.

The man went to great lengths to fabricate his story. He made his long-term girlfriend push him around in a wheelchair, claiming that he could not walk because of his personal injuries and that he had become incontinent. One can't help wondering if he went the whole hog and wet himself in the wheelchair for the benefit his doctor.

The court hearing the case of no win, no fee claim fraud was told by the prosecuting solicitor that the 31-year-old eventually became complacent enough to get caught. Jurors were shown videos of the man carrying heavy loads, driving to the supermarket, and confidently strolling through the streets of Yeovil.

A personal injury compensation claims specialist who was called to give his professional opinion said on the case said, "In my opinion this is the worst and most blatant insurance compensation claim fraud I have ever come across."

Pointedly, he went on to say, "I have dealt with many serious personal injury claims. Similar genuine compensation claims have cost more than ?1 million each."

In his ruling on the case, the judge made a striking point when he said, "Fraud such as this is a cynical use of other peoples' genuine disabilities to obtain a large sum of compensation."

This, of course, is what makes a no win, no fee compensation claim fraud so shameful and dishonourable. It is money for lying, earned by exploiting the legal systems designed to protect those made vulnerable by accident or illness. Not only that, it stigmatises genuine no win, no fee claims by association and gives a measure of credence to those who believe society is suffering the ills of compensation claim culture'.

It is not only individuals who make fraudulent compensation claims. MP, Richard Bacon, recently claimed that as many as 40 crash for cash' cartels are currently operating in Britain, with three new ones being detected each month. It is estimated that these gangs are costing Britain nearly ?1 million a year in fraudulent compensation claims. Sometimes these gangs make claims for car accidents' that have not happened at all. They are, in fact, entirely fictitious.

It is common for cash for crash' gangs to put innocent road users at risk of serious personal injury or even death. John Beadle, chairman of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, says, "The criminal gangs targeting honest motorists are ruthless and innocent lives are being put at risk."

They have recognisable tactics for causing car accidents. The most popular of these is to slam the brakes on at a busy roundabout or intersection, usually with the brake lights disconnected, so they can then sue the insurance company of the other motorist for car accident compensation, often as much as ?30,000.

The city of Blackburn has emerged as the capital for these cash for crash' compensation claims. Recently the Insurance Fraud Investigators Group reported on the story of two men there who were not so much part of a cartel as a pair of none too bright vigilantes. Think Beavis and Buthead, Dumb and Dumber, or Laurel and Hardy, only without the laughs.

The 22-year-old and the 24-year-old hit on the idea of raising some funds for new cars, flash home-improvements, and a Costa Del Sol holiday by staging a car crash and claiming car accident compensation for serious personal injuries, whiplash, and damages to each of their vehicles.

After they lodged their no win, no fee car accident compensation claim, police became suspicious and investigated the incident. At the time of the car accident, the two men had claimed there were three passengers in each of the cars and that all had sustained extensive personal injuries. They also claimed that the car crash had occurred in a local residential street.

However, in the course of their investigations, the police discovered that the car accident had, in fact, been staged in an industrial area in the dead of night and that the two drivers had been the only people present in each of the vehicles. The two cars, a Ford Fiesta and a Vauxhall Astra were both written off.

In the aftermath of the verdict, a sergeant from the Eastern Division Road Policing Unit, said: "The arrest and subsequent caution of these two men should serve as an example to individuals thinking about committing similar scams.

"Following a joint investigation between the police and insurance companies, the two men, by staging this accident, are now facing expensive repair costs totaling around ?10,000.

"Attempting to make a fraudulent insurance car crash claim is illegal and the maximum penalty for this type of offence is a prison sentence.

"We take offences such as these very seriously and anyone found to be committing this crime will be dealt with accordingly."

It is a common misconception that a fraudulent no win, no fee claim is a victimless crime. In the case of car accident cartels, this is clearly not the case as lives of innocent people are risked and they are often subjected to lengthy and distressing litigation.

And for fraudsters like the wheelchair bound' man who was seeking to make his million through a no win, no fee claim, it is important to drive the message home that they are taking money, court time, and credence away from people who are genuinely in need of personal injury compensation. These fraudsters are criminals, and there is certainly to glamour in their crime, only selfishness and exploitation.

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Joe Patterson, YouClaim are the leading online personal injury compensation claim people with a 97% claim success rate. Call 0800 10 757 95 or visit http://www.youclaim.co.uk/No-win-no-fee/evidence-and-no-win-no-fee-compensation-claim.htm for more details. This article is free for republishing Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_181194_18.html

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