Fake whiplash compensation claims are costing UK insurers £2bn, with each UK driver paying an additional £90 on their yearly premium to cover the costs. While many fake claims get through the net, some fraudsters do get caught, one such fake claimant being Samina Bashir, 28.

Mrs Bashir admitted being part of a fake claim for over £5000 in damages and whiplash compensation that she said involved three cars. The insurers, Liverpool Victoria (LV=) became suspicious that the crash had been faked after they discovered a similar incident involving the same car. As a result they successfully launched a private prosecution against the Mrs Bashir and her husband for contempt of court after the couple failed to appear for a hearing.

Fake whiplash compensation claims cost LV= dearly last year, despite strong profits

The case is a landmark for British law as no insurer has brought a contempt of court accusation to court before, they did it after officials discovered the accident and subsequent whiplash claims were fictious and may have cost LV= £75,000. Speaking about the case, Sir John Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Silber, said: “I hope the clang of the prison gates will deter the rampant dishonesty.”

He added: “It is conduct which must be deterred because it strikes at the very heart of our system of justice, and does great damage to every citizen who has an insurance policy. There is a need, on the court’s part, to make it clear that anyone who engages in fraud of this most serious kind, even though the sums are not that large, must be deterred.”

The Birmingham couple were jailed for six-weeks after it was revealed that they falsely claimed that Ms Bashir was driving her partner and parents in a Rover, which had a crash involving Peugeot. The mother-of-two made whiplash claims amounting to £5,000 but when LV= discovered that the claimants had connections to the other drivers involved, an investigation was launched.

But when it emerged that the family had connections to those said to be driving the other vehicles, insurers launched an investigation. This revealed a similar accident had occurred recently and the accident involving the Bashir’s took place just four days after the policy was taken, with no witnesses present. On top of this; the police were not informed.

Despite confessing that they had been approached by a fraudster to fake the whiplash compensation claim, the parents of Mrs Bashir were also involved in the fraud and were each handed six week suspended sentences. The couple originally faced up to 12 months in jail but had their sentences reduced after giving evidence against the ‘crash for cash’ fraudster that arranged the fake claim.