A taxi driver from Essex has narrowly escaped going to jail after a number of offences including insurance fraud and contempt of court. Michael Seabrook admitted he was guilty of contempt of court after falsely claiming that he had been forced to take early retirement after an accident. His insurers moved to have him sentenced to a prison term for contempt at the high court but their request was withdrawn due to Seabrook’s ill health. Aviva, the insurance company covering him, withdrew the application although they said that it was intended to serve as a warning to the general public that insurance fraud was taken seriously and they could face jail if they lie when submitting claims for compensation for traffic accidents. A spokesperson for the company said: As the UK’s largest insurer, we are serious about cracking down on insurance fraud. If you commit insurance fraud, you could be pursued through the criminal courts with the possibility of going to jail.” companies offering year long term or temporary car insurance loose millions of pounds of policy holders money through fraudulent claims which goes toward keeping policies high.
But now Technology Means That the Slightest Driving Infraction Can Be Detected Immediately. Scanners which were invented for the Post Office can detect, read and report on vehicle’s registration plates and report back with any outstanding fines, unpaid tickets, lapsed insurance in an instant. The scanner doesn’t have to be aimed toward a suspect vehicleand ‘fired’, anything that passes within it’s field of view will instantly be checked upon, the systems interrogated and the results sent back in a trice. The car mounted units have proved useful in other areas as well, when a burglary is reported all vehicles coming and going are reported back upon, if a car happens to be around when a number of robberies have taken place the driver obviously becomes a person of interest to the police. If you are driving around in a car upon which even the temporary insurance has lapsed then these days it’s getting harder to get away with it, even for the short term car insurance is becoming expensive but so are the fines for not having any.