By Justin Dunn

WIRRAL Council is to offer a maximum £5,000 cash reward to people who shop a fake compensation claimant.

The council is getting tough on people who submit fraudulent claims for compensation by joining forces with national loss adjuster Cuningham Lyndsey, who have set up a national anti-fraud campaign.

Fraudline, as the campaign is called, includes a 24-hour staffed fraud hotline, with a £5,000 reward offered for information which directly secures a criminal prosecution. Wirral will be the first local authority in the country to offer such a financial incentive.

Recent surveys indicate that up to 33 per cent of claims against local authorities are either fraudulent or exaggerated, and there is increasing evidence that many fraud crimes are organised or are submitted by repeat claimants.

By sharing data with other agencies, Wirral is able to match claims' data to identify areas of suspicion.

The council currently has a 90 per cent success rate in defending highway liability claims taken against it, and the number of claims it receives has fallen back to levels not seen for more than 10 years, reducing by 75 per cent from the peak in 2001/02.

With liability claims costing local authorities an average of £6,000 per claim, this represents a significant cost benefit to the authority, releasing funds for reinvestment in service delivery.

Wirral's Fraudline campaign will be officially launched later in the year, and will be accompanied by a hard-hitting publicity campaign aimed at lowering claims costs, increasing fraud awareness and deterring fraudulent claimants.

In the meantime information concerning potentially fraudulent claims can be provided to the Authority's Risk & Insurance team on 0151-666-3313.