East European gangs target rental firms

Organised crime groups with Lithuanian and other eastern European connections are targeting UK rental companies. Up to 30 vehicles belonging to BVRLA members have been stolen by criminals using false or stolen IDs in recent weeks.

The gangs appear to be made up of smartly dressed men in their late 30s with Lithuanian, Czech, Hungarian, Slovak and Romanian passports and driving licences. They usually provide UK addresses. They initially tended to rent as walk-ups from airports, especially Stansted and Gatwick, then targeted the cities of London and Birmingham, but now appear to be operating much farther afield, as far north as Leeds. They give contact telephone numbers for mobile phones, but these cease to be answered after initial assurances to the rental company that the rental vehicles will be returned. Most of the names and addresses used by these individuals have been added to the BVRLA's RISC Online database.

For more information on how to protect your business through the RISC Online database, contact BVRLA head of member services Nora Leggett.

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source: BVRLA

Chinese Grand Prix 2010

Jenson Button stormed to his second win of the season as he headed team-mate Lewis Hamilton to a McLaren one-two at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Rain played havoc in China as Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg held off Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to finish third with Renault's Robert Kubica in fifth. Button's win means he leads the drivers' championship by 10 points.

Despite starting at the front of the grid, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finished sixth and eighth. Kubica's team-mate Vitaly Petrov completed an impressive day for Renault when he overtook Webber late on to take seventh position and earn his first points in Formula 1.

For the full story from the BBC click here...

source: BBC

Learner driver flips car on roof in Oxford

A learner driver taking her second lesson managed to flip her instructor's car on to its roof in Oxford.

The woman, in her mid-20s, hit a gatepost on Old Road in Headington, causing the Fiat 500 car owned by driving instruction firm BSM to flip. Paramedics treated the woman and the instructor for cuts to their hands and elbows at the scene of Sunday's crash. BSM described the crash as a "freak incident" and said it took health and safety very seriously.

Communications manager Paul Shepherd said: "We have spoken to the learner driver who is fine and is already hoping to book her next lesson with us soon.

For the full story from the BBC clik here...

Test drive crash results in £300,000 insurance claim

Repairs to a supercar damaged when a test drive went wrong near Aberdeen are set to cost an insurance firm £300,000.

The Pagani Zonda S, which would cost more than £500,000 to buy, was involved in a crash last September. The car has been sent for repair to Modena in Italy, where the vehicles are made.

A spokesperson for insurers Aviva said: "This is the biggest insurance payout we have had for repairs to a private car in the UK." The spokesperson said: "This is out of the ordinary for an insurer."

Although the vehicle was badly damaged, Aviva decided that the car may be repairable and set about making arrangements for the car to be shipped across to Modena, Italy, home of Pagani, the vehicle manufacturer.

The insurance claim was lodged by the test driver, not the owner of the car.

For the full story from the BBC click here...

source: BBC

Identity fraud 'is set to soar' says Experian

Identity fraud is likely to accelerate in 2010 as organised criminals target the rich, according to a report.

Some 72% of ID fraud in 2009 came in the 2nd half of the year with company directors and business owners the most at risk, Experian found. The credit reference agency said that the number of ID fraud victims rose by 20% in 2009 compared with 2008.

London remained the UK's crime hotspot area but Salford, Manchester and Cardiff were also vulnerable, it said.

Experian also noted a rise in the proportion of fraud cases when people manipulated their own information in order to access financial services such as credit. The company estimated that these numbers would increase owing to lower levels of lending and the potential for more unemployment in 2010.

For the full story from BBC News click here...

source: BBC

Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Fernando Alonso led Felipe Massa to a Ferrari one-two after the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel hit trouble at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Alonso trailed the German from the start but swept by as the Red Bull suffered a spark plug failure. Massa followed the Spaniard past on the next lap and Lewis Hamilton benefited from Vettel's problem to take third.

Vettel eventually finished fourth, holding off the Mercedes pair of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.

For the full story from the BBC click here...

source: BBC

Winter weather insurance claims hit £650m

Insurers paid out £650m from 335,000 claims made as a result of damage caused by the wintry weather in the UK, figures show.

The biggest chunk of the payout was to motorists who damaged vehicles on the slippery roads, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said. January was the eighth coldest on record and the UK's worst since 1987.

The bad weather hit businesses and consumers with sectors including retail and the housing market suffering. The ABI said that the winter weather cost insurers £650m for claims made in the UK from 18 December to 13 January.

Specifically, £395m has been paid out to motorists. Many of the 268,400 motor insurance claims were for accidental damage caused to vehicles.

For the full story from the BBC click here...

source: BBC