Crash-for-Cash Fraud: How Staged Accident Schemes Target Trucking Companies and Why Dashcams Matter
Some claims against trucking companies are not about accidents at all. They are insurance fraud, built on staged collisions with tractor-trailers, and truck drivers and the companies they work for are the targets. A WSB-TV investigation in Atlanta looked at how the schemes work and what they cost.
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What the schemes are
They are called crash-for-cash schemes. Several people may work together to cause a collision on purpose and then pursue insurance claims and lawsuits. The people who cause them are sometimes called "slammers."
A Georgia carrier's experience
Turner Transportation, a father-and-daughter Georgia business, told WSB-TV that a claim against one of its trucks dragged on for two years, with legal threat letters from several attorneys, before the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed. The carrier says it still had legal bills, even though it had dashcam video. WSB-TV did not report any criminal charges in that case, and the lawsuit ended without a court ruling.
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A federal case
This year, attorneys in Louisiana were found guilty in federal court in connection with a crash-for-cash scheme involving more than 60 people, WSB-TV reports. The scheme involved hiring people to cause collisions and then suing trucking companies and their insurers.
A bill in Congress
Even when suits over alleged staged collisions are dismissed, the people accused of staging them rarely face criminal charges. Georgia Congressman Mike Collins introduced the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act, which would create criminal penalties for people who stage collisions and for those who help them. It has not become law.
Why it matters to truckers
An attorney who represents trucking companies told the station that these costs raise insurance rates, which are passed on to customers. Trucking companies are increasingly turning to dashcams, WSB-TV reports, because video can show what actually happened. Fraud aimed at carriers takes other forms too, such as fake carriers and stolen MC numbers.
A question for readers
Truckers, has your company added a dashcam because of fraud worries?
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Sources
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