Accident Claims Companies Could Be Bankrolling Terrorism

Accident claims companies are at the centre of a large-scale investigation by the Insurance Fraud Bureau, according to a report in Solicitors Journal. Many companies are under suspicion of colluding with solicitors firms in staging accidents and paying kickbacks in order to make money. Some of the fraudulent activity may have gone towards funding terrorism and drug dealing.

The process of paying kickbacks can be legal if there is complete transparency but not if the claims are revealed to be fraudulent, and while the IFB accepts that some solicitors may have been duped by accident claims companies they could still find themselves guilty of fraud through neglecting to keep thorough records.

Sue Jones, the IFB’s unit head, has warned solicitors to guard against this eventuality by making sure that they accurately record all transactions and referrals made to them by claims companies: ‘If insurers are saying, on a consistent basis, that they don’t believe that accidents are taking place, then you must review the situation. If you’ve paid a referral fee to a claims management company and you end up taking money into your client account from a fraudulent