According to the firm, branded courier vans and trucks have been targeted in the past year by criminal gangs because they are likely to be fully insured and have drivers working on a tight deadline who are less likely to dispute liability at the roadside.
To counter the increase of these kinds of bogus claims international courier giant FedEx Ground has recently announced an incentive programme promoting Vehicle Event Data Recorders, of which the SmartWitness KP1S was selected for deployment due to its cellular connectivity, dual camera design, and instant notification features.
SmartWitness CEO Paul Singh said: “Courier fleets have been hit hard by criminal gangs and now almost a third of all deliberate collisions are targeted against delivery and logistics vans and this worrying trend is still on the increase.
“Criminal gangs know that branded courier fleets will have full insurance cover but also that their drivers will not want to argue at the road-side about who was at fault because they are often in a hurry with tight deadlines for deliveries.
“But with SmartWitness footage they are covered and the footage is sent immediately via 3G to the insurer so that they are ready for any potential claim within minutes.”
He added that vehicle CCTV was particularly useful in challenging bogus whiplash claims.
“The camera will show the exact speed and force of impact and in cases below 5mph it can be proven that back and neck damage couldn’t have been caused. It will also prove exactly how many people were in the vehicle in front. Our clients have had cases before where four people claimed whiplash injuries even though there were only two people in the car. Clearly these claims were thrown out immediately when the video evidence was produced but without the cameras footage the claim would have been disputed and would have cost the courier firm thousands of pounds.”
