LAWR

August 2014

Local Authority Waste & Recycling Magazine

Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/356672

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 25 of 31

RCV Cameras keep watch on refuse collection vehicles Insurance fraud is on the rise and councils are increasingly looking for ways to protect their drivers from bogus claims. Liz Gyekye explores how four-way cameras are helping them to combat this issue. ecent figures from the Association of British Insurers have shown that the number of dishonest motor claims increased by 34% to a record 59,900 in 2013, with a value of £811m. The Government has recently announced a crackdown on insurance fraud with a series of new measures and councils up and down the country are also taking tough actions against unscrupulous claimants by installing cameras to their refuse collection vehicles (RCVs). Plymouth City Council is one council that has fitted four-way cameras, which can be viewed in real time, to vehicles following a 12-month trial. They are designed to protect the drivers and the Council from bogus insurance claims. The system is being used to help the Council to investigate accidents, near misses and aggressive behaviour from the public. It is also being used to save money. During the trial, the number of accidents and damage to vehicles dropped. According to the Council, in the two years before the trial cameras were installed, there were 92 and 96 claims respectively. In 2012 to 2013, during the trial, this dropped to 72. This financial year the trend continues downward with 65 claims. Plymouth now has cameras installed in most of its vehicles. 'Speculative claims' Cabinet member for the Environment Councillor Brian Vincent says: "We have received speculative claims for things like broken wing mirrors where car owners allege that the damage must be down to us because they know we were in the area. However, every claim is thoroughly investigated and in the absence of any witness evidence our insurers will not pay out. "Now that we have cameras fitted we are able to check the video evidence and refute such claims successfully. We are fitting 24 vehicles with cameras – one at the front, two on the sides and one on the rear." Vincent explains that in some incidents footage from the cameras have been extremely useful. He says: "Footage from the cab has been passed to the police as part of a recent aggressive behaviour incident against one of our crews. A court case is currently in progress regarding this matter." It is not just bogus insurance claims that the Council are using the cameras for. It also uses the cameras to make sure it is putting the right type of rubbish in the vehicle. However, not all organisations agree with cameras being used in RCVs. Anti-closed circuit television (CCTV) group Big Brother Watch acting director, Emma Carr, says: "Britain has an out- of-control surveillance culture that is doing little to improve public safety but has made our cities the most watched in the world. Whether on the back of a bin lorry, on public transport, or attached to a lamppost, there is no credible evidence that more cameras will reduce crime, yet councils increasingly pour money into ineffective CCTV rather than putting the resources into putting extra police on the streets." Nevertheless, East Riding of Yorkshire Council group manager Paul Tripp believes the recording system on the cameras can be "priceless" when involved in third-party claims. He says that one of its RCVs was recently involved in a serious road accident with an individual. The incident took place early in the morning and police officers were able to watch the incident again in his office proving that the driver "wasn't liable" for the accident. It is clear to see that cameras fitted into RCVs can help councils provide evidence to insurance companies where liability can be questioned. When a driver is doing everything right but something happens out of their control then it pays to have a camera system in place. After all, the British Security Industry Authority has estimated there are up to 5.9m CCTVs in the country and fitting an extra one in an RCV is not going to cause any harm. 26 Local Authority Waste & Recycling August 2014 R Plymouth City Council 's Brian Vincent " Footage from the cab has been passed to the police "

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of LAWR - August 2014