FLA-funded vehicle crime
intelligence service enters 4th year, Girish Gupta
reports.
A partnership between the police
and motor finance industry, now entering its fourth year, has
recovered £3.5m from fraudsters over the past 12 months.
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Since September last year, more
than 60 fraudsters have been arrested for crimes involving 200
cars, which have now been recovered thanks to the Association of
Chief Police Officers’ (ACPO) vehicle crime intelligence service
(AVCIS).
The vehicle fraud unit was
established in 2007 using funding from the Finance & Leasing
Association (FLA).
Since then, £12.4m worth of cars
obtained using fraudulent motor finance have been recovered. The
FLA will continue sponsoring the unit for at least another
year.
FLA head of motor finance Paul
Harrison said: “By catching fraudsters, our partnership with the
police is helping motor lenders to stay competitive and pass on
cost savings to their customers through affordable finance
deals.
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By GlobalData“During the recession, while
budgets remain tight, it’s especially important that the fraudulent
actions of a few do not result in higher repayments for law-abiding
motorists.
“Finance fraud is not a victimless
crime. It costs money for the lenders, the police and the driving
public at large.”
AVCIS vehicle fraud unit head DI
Andy MacKay thanked the FLA and its members for their support.
“Not only are we recovering
fraudulently-obtained vehicles for their legal owners, but we are
denying criminals the use of what appear to be legitimate vehicles,
sending a clear message to fraudsters.”
In the year to March, almost 10,000
fraudulent applications were lodged with motor finance providers,
totalling £126.8m, according to FLA figures. Strict checks by
lenders kept actual cases of fraud down to 960. These, however,
still totalled some £15.8m.
Harrison said: “In the first three
months of this year there were almost 2,500 fraudulent loan
applications to motor finance providers.
Finance companies continue to work
closely with police to combat finance crime, but it is vital
consumers are made aware of how fraud could affect them.
“If people fail to disclose their credit history during the
application process or try to sell a vehicle that is still on
finance, they are committing fraud against their lender and may
have their car taken from them.”
