Motor fraud could catch on in Malta soon

"No matter what you think, there's always someone to blame, be it connected to speeding, negligence, alcohol, drugs, money and even daydreaming," says David Vassallo of Collision Scene Investigation (CSI).

Vassallo, who aims to get to the bottom of why accidents happen, has held the second motor vehicle fraud seminar with business partner Dominic Harris, a collision scene investigator in the UK.

The seminar, which focused on preventing and combating motor fraud, was held in conjunction with the Malta Insurance Association and Hill Dickinson of London.

Born in Australia, Vassallo returned to Malta 23 years ago and has been working full-time in the car business for the past 18 years. He has always loved cars and started out by going into car repairs.

In 2007 there were 16,138 vehicle accidents in Malta, up 3.7 per cent from 2006. Of these, 950 involved personal injury, Vassallo says.

Of the 35 accidents that occur every day in Malta, Vassallo claims that one or two could be suspicious. "Fraud is happening - it's just not being detected," Vassallo told The Sunday Times. He believes that although the idea hasn't fully caught on in Malta yet, it will soon. He is keen to nip it in the bud by raising awareness on motor vehicle fraud before insurance agencies suffer huge losses.

Different types of fraud involve people pretending they need more repairs than they actually do; faking personal injury and a number of accident schemes such as the 'side swipe' at busy intersections. As soon as the victim's vehicle drifts into the outer turn lane, the criminal side swipes it.

Under current practice, drivers' fault in a collision is worked out as a percentage, such as 60 per cent fault for one vehicle and 40 per cent for the other.

Vassallo says there is more to it than that.

"Science plays a major part in working out how a collision unfolded," Vassallo points out.

Three factors come into play when a collision is being investigated, Vassallo explains: common sense, experience and persistence, which is the most important and the most difficult to maintain.