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Most of us dread crashes or prangs - after all a minor collision in the supermarket could see you seriously out of pocket or losing a no-claims bonus.

But some unscrupulous UK motorists are actively looking to get involved in crashes and hope to make serious money out of it! The practice is called ‘crash for cash’ and it is becoming far too prevalent on British roads.

According to motor fleet insurance specialists Catlin, crash for cash fraudsters are highly adept at staging what look like genuine collisions with their vehicles being hit from behind. The innocent motorist often believes they are in the wrong and have been driving too close to the car in front and not braked in time. The reality is they have been conned – and it is the innocent party’s insurance company that has to shell out and it is their no claims bonus and premiums that come under pressure.

In a typical 'crash for cash' incident, the fraudulent driver will brake suddenly when coming off a motorway junction or entering onto a roundabout, causing the vehicle behind to strike them in the rear. Often the vehicles being used in such incidents have the brake lights disabled so that the following driver has no warning to slow down.

Frequently there is more than one driver involved in a scam. A second vehicle often cuts across the vehicle of his accomplice. This gives the impression to the innocent driver that the vehicle in front had a reason to jam on its brakes and therefore reduces suspicion.

According to the Associations of British Insurers, up to 2,000 bogus incidents are reported each week.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau has expressed concern that these incidents are growing in such numbers that ‘crash for cash’ is now a national problem.

According to Catlin, these staged incidents can be very difficult to detect and often things only come to light when the fraudulent details do not tie up with the innocent claimant’s version of events.

Ron Spore a motor fleet insurance underwriter at Catlin believes now is the time for action against fraudsters. "As an insurer, we believe that it is important to manage the behaviour of 'our' driver at the scene of an accident. If the victim of a fraudulent claim is aware what they should do following an accident, the size of the claim can be contained and the fraud can be more easily identified."

Catlin has put together a list of measures that honest drivers can follow to help identify potential fraudulent claims.

• Insist on full contact details for the third party including land line telephone number and insurance details.

• Obtain vehicle make/model/registration number.

• Accurately record damage sustained in the accident and any pre-existing damage.

• Obtain names of passengers in the vehicle, and where they were sitting when the incident happened. Note any injuries sustained if any.

• Provide the insurer with details of any suspicious circumstances, for instance sudden braking for no apparent reason. Was the car parked illegally or on a bend?

• If possible, (maybe camera on mobile phone) obtain a photograph of the vehicle damage and record the position of both vehicles immediately following the collision and any debris on the road. Check the registration plate front and rear.

• Observe the driver and passengers behaviour, are they over friendly/aggressive/impatient?

• If you have any doubts about the incident, report it to the police.

Despite cash for crash growing in popularity, the authorities have not been entirely unsuccessful in tracking down the worst culprits. Only this week a 'crash for cash' fraudster who lived the high life on the proceeds of staged accidents and cost the insurance industry £1.6 million was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Mohammed Patel, 24, charged £500 a time to stage accidents which enabled fraudsters to claim an average of £17,000 from insurers. He staged at least 93 crashes, earning himself around £46,000, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

The scam was exposed by suspicious office workers at Bovis Homes, who overlooked the Eden Point roundabout on the A34 at Cheadle Hulme. In the latter part of 2005 they became suspicious that road traffic accidents were being staged because of the number and similarities of every crash.

One would hope that severe prison sentences might act as a deterent for future cash for crash fraudsters. However recent figures from comparison site Moneysupermarket.com paint a rather depressing picture.

Their research shows that more than a million (1,020,000) motorists would consider staging a motor accident in order to make a claim on their insurance. The survey also points to the fact that 340,000 motorists admit to having already successfully done so.

The insurance industry separates types of motor insurance fraud into three categories:

• ‘Staged' motor accidents; two vehicles deliberately knock into each other in order to claim on insurance.
• ‘Contrived' motor accidents; a fabricated claim for a motor incident that never took place.
• ‘Induced' motor accidents; a deliberate action by a motorist to force an innocent driver to crash into them.

Even if the credit crunch has led people to consider insurance fraud for the first time, Steve Sweeney, head of motor insurance at moneysupermarket.com believes there can be no excuses.

"Desperate times do often call for desperate measures, but surely this is a step too far for British motorists. We have all been affected by the recession in one way or another, but crashing for cash is not only illegal but wilfully endangers the lives of others." Steve Sweeney continued: "Our research reveals there are many more motorists causing this type of fraud and getting away with it than the industry is aware of. Organised motor fraud not only costs the insurance industry millions, but risks the safety of innocent drivers, passengers and pedestrians.