Tesco has been targeted by a “cash for crash” scam where some of its delivery drivers were paid to stage accidents to allow fraudsters to extract millions of pounds from the business.
A dozen of the supermarket’s drivers working out of its depot in Greenford, west London, allegedly conspired with people outside of the grocer to carry out more than fifty staged accidents between 2019 and 2020, The Sunday Times reported.
The “victims” would then sue Tesco through accident management companies for the loss of value to their vehicles, personal injuries and the cost of a hire car.
Some damages claims ran into tens of thousands of pounds, with the Tesco drivers receiving as little as £200 for each crash.
The supermarket giant noticed the scam when its investigators spotted that the claimants often used the same solicitor to file their claims and had their cars repaired at garages registered at the same address.
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The ‘cash for crash’ scam has come to light after Tesco began suing the drivers and their co-conspirators in 32 separate cases at central London County court.
Judge Heather Baucher ordered the conspirators to repay the costs the supermarket chain had incurred plus an additional £18,000 each in so-called exemplary damages.
She said the fraud was of an “unprecedented” scale and the conduct of the perpetrators was “outrageous”.
In nine cases reviewed by The Sunday Times, Tesco has been awarded almost £400,000 in cumulative damages. The eventual award is expected to be considerably higher.
A Tesco spokeswoman said the company welcomed the judge’s decision but could not comment further on an ongoing legal matter.
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