Hamilton cops execute warrants against two collision centres, charge three in connection with insurance fraud investigation

Hamilton police have executed search warrants against two collision centres in the city for allegedly perpetrating insurance fraud.
So far, three local men aged 39, 48 and 67 have been arrested.
Police believe local collision repair shops were hiring “chasers” to go to accident scenes and collision reporting centres to drum up business and help inflate the costs of claims to defraud insurance companies. The charges have not been proven in court.
Working with Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), Hamilton police say their investigation began after a 73-year-old driver was flagged down on a city street by a ‘chaser’ after the driver left the Mountain Police Station Collision Reporting Centre to report a minor collision.
Police say a ‘chaser’ advised the 73-year-old driver that her vehicle was unsafe to drive. The chaser said he worked for a collision repair company, and that he would not only take care of the driver’s car and repair it, but that he would also put her into a rental vehicle while the work was being done.
But when the insurance adjuster attended the auto body shop, police say, there was additional damage on the vehicle that had not been there when the collision had been reported to the police or when the car had been turned over to the body shop for repair.
On Aug. 24, the Hamilton Police Service simultaneously executed search warrants at Stoney Creek Collision on Queenston Rd. in Stoney Creek and at Southwestern Collision Centre on Dundurn St. in Hamilton.
In addition to working with Hamilton police in this case, IBC says it is currently investigating approximately 50 multi-case fraud projects in the Greater Toronto Area, many involving staged collisions and associated service provider fraud.