Over a 15 month period, fraudsters manufactured seven collisions with First buses in Chester, having already loaded each of them with fake passengers who submitted over 200 personal injury claims totalling over £1 million. In one of these incidents, despite the fraudsters vehicle not having adequate insurance, the injured 'passengers' submitted their claims to the MIB; the fund of last resort for innocent victims of uninsured drivers.

Ashton West, Chief Executive of the MIB said, “The MIB is here to compensate innocent victims of uninsured drivers who have nowhere else to turn. Targeting a fund of last resort is abhorrent but, sadly, it's something we see all too often.”

In 2014 MIB identified over £34 million of attempted fraud and have over 1,700 suspicious claims that are being actively investigated by a dedicated team. Incidents involving buses are also more common that might be expected, with 52 bus-related cases of fraud, which would have cost over £750k, in the last 5 years‟ alone.  Often cited as a 'victimless crime' the truth is that insurance fraud not only hits premium paying policyholders' in the pocket, scams like this put the public in harm's way.

West continued, “We have a dedicated team that are skilled at spotting the signs of fraud and work closely with police, regulators and other interested parties to investigate suspicious claims. Today's verdict should serve as a powerful warning to would be fraudsters: that this crime is taken very seriously and that anyone caught can expect to be prosecuted.”

Sentencing is expected in approximately 3 weeks' time.