A new initiative by the Metropolitan Police to target ‘cash for crash’ insurance scams has been set up.

The incidences of fraudsters staging crashes with innocent motorists – often van and fleet car drivers who the fraudsters know will be insured – has been rising.

Now the Met is cracking down and their policy should be copied by other police forces, says AA Insurance.

The capital's police established the specialist unit to train officers to watch out for signs of suspicious collisions that could be staged accidents designed to defraud insurance companies for bogus personal injury claims.

According to ABI figures, detected fraudulent claims amounted to £730 million last year with up to £1.9bn slipping through the net, adding around £44 to the average cost of every insurance policy.