Three Bradford postcodes are in the top five ‘crash for cash’ list of shame with one declared the worst in the UK, it was revealed today.

The problem of insurance claims from deliberate smashes has become so bad that Crimestoppers has joined with the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) to urge the public to turn in criminal gangs who are risking public safety.

The annual cost of ‘crash for cash’ fraud to the insurance industry now stands at £392 million with the average value of scams investigated by the IFB running at £1.7 million.

BD9, BD3 and BD8 are in the top ten of worst hotspots with one councillor in the worst-affected area describing the figures as “staggering”.

Councillor Rizwan Malik (Lab, Heaton) said Bradford was expensive for motorists to be insured. “It is a real pity and I feel for the good people and motorists out there genuinely in difficult times where this area is the worst for insurance premiums,” Coun Malik said.

“There is a handful of idiots going round taking advantage of the system to get a quick buck. I wasn’t aware that BD9 was the top one in the area but we do have affluent people living here and it is possible they are taken advantage of.

“It is a staggering, staggering statistic and will raise a lot of eyebrows with residents around BD9 and make them more vigilant.”

Councillor Mohammad Shabbir (Bradford Independent Group, Heaton) said that with 19 years’ no-claims bonus, he was paying £1,450 in insurance, but when he moved to Shipley that was cut to £450.

“I think it is absolutely deplorable that people seeking to gain money through lying about injuries,” he said.

“Companies who trawl for personal injuries or stage these events should take personal responsibility,” he added. Fellow ward Councillor Imdad Hussain (The Peace Party) described the figures as “shocking” and “disappointing”.

“I was in the claims management business many years ago but no longer am,” he said. “It surprises me that BD9 is number one in the whole of the UK.”

Bradford East MP David Ward, who has long campaigned against huge insurance premiums inflicted on local motorists, said: “My report into the car insurance industry in 2011 highlighted that Bradford had one of the highest levels of personal injury claims and instances of insurance fraud in the country.

“It makes me angry as for too long people have thought that car insurance fraud like this is a victimless crime, it’s not. It increases premiums for everyone but especially penalises young people in my constituency as they can no longer afford to run a car.

“Reforms by the Government to the claims system has already brought car insurance premiums down across the country by about £80.

“What’s crucial is that the Coalition Government is taking important steps to tackle insurance fraud and will be introducing an independent medical examiner to oversee all whiplash claims. Rather than just automatically paying because it saves them money, once implemented insurance companies will need a medical certificate before they are able to pay out on any claims. This will stop fraudulent whiplash claims.”

Bradford and Birmingham contain nine of the worst ten areas for crash for cash incidents.

Motorists in the hotspot areas are now being warned to be particularly vigilant with the campaign aiming to raise public awareness of the ‘Crash for Cash’ phenomenon, whereby criminals target innocent and unsuspecting motorists with the intention of staging crashes in order to make claims against them.

By exaggerating claims for personal injury, vehicle damage and car hire, individual claims made by scammers can be as much as £30,000.

Ben Fletcher, IFB director, said: “Far from being a victimless crime, ‘crash for cash’ scams hit motorists in the pocket and put other road users in harm’s way.”

Roger Critchell, of Crimestoppers, said: “This is a serious and organised crime that funds other crimes, including weapons and drug smuggling.

“For this reason I would urge anyone who has information on those committing these premeditated incidents to contact Cheatline anonymously.”

Anyone with information about scams should call the anonymous Cheatline – powered by Crimestoppers on 0800 422 0421 or visit crashscam. co.uk.