ALL kinds of innocent people become victims of all sorts of everyday crime – and know about it.

But many may not have realised that they are being hit hard in the pocket by the illegal activities of others who have been staging so-called crashes for cash to make false car insurance claims.

So rife is this criminal racket in large parts of East Lancashire that many innocent drivers are discovering that their car insurance renewal premiums are being drastically increased simply because of their postcode.

Companies have decided that regardless of the fact that they have an accident-free record and healthy no-claims discount their East Lancashire addresses make it too risky not to penalise them because of the wrongdoing of others.

It is clearly unfair that drivers who have done nothing wrong should have to dig deep like this.

However insurance companies have to make sure their balance sheets stay in the black and that means trying to minimise the risk of losing money.

The answer clearly is for the insurers’ own fraud experts and the police to get together and once and for all rid East Lancashire’s roads of crooks who are costing all of us dear.