What is Claim farming?

Claim farming is the name given to what scammers do when they contact people who have been involved in a motor vehicle accident.

Claim farming involves members of the public receiving cold calls or social media prompts seeking personal details regarding possible involvement in car accidents. These claim farmers encourage people to make a CTP claim and provide your details to lawyers for a fee. Claim farmers can be very sophisticated and convincing.

Similar to fraud, claim farming also has a negative impact on the CTP Scheme. The behaviour of claim farmers is unethical when the person contacted has either not had an accident or had an accident but did not sustain an injury but is encouraged by the caller to make a claim. These scammers may on-sell your personal details to lawyers and other service providers for a commission, which may not be disclosed to you.

If you engage a lawyer to act on your behalf the lawyer must also disclose certain cost-related information to you. It is important you understand the costs disclosure.

Further information on these costs can be obtained from the Law Society of South Australia.

The clearest warning signs you are dealing with a claim farming scammer are how they contact you and the promises they make.

What to do if you are contacted

If you receive an unwanted phone call or social media prompt encouraging you to make a CTP claim, please do not provide them with any personal details. Do not complete any forms that are sent to you without verifying the source.

If you do receive contact that seems like it might be claim farming, attempt to identify the source by asking for their:

  • organisation
  • name
  • phone number to call them back, and
  • website and email address.

Do not provide them with your personal information.

Report uninvited contact to the Regulator

If you are contacted by a claim farming scammer, please inform the CTP Regulator by:

  • telephone on 1800 303 558
  • completing the form here, or
  • email at ctp@sa.gov.au.

Report a scam call to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

You can report scam callers to the ACCC via their Scamwatch program. When answering the question "what type of scam is it?", select "other scams".

Further information

Additional information and media stories related to claim farming are available at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-13/racq-scam-cold-callers-ring-abc-offering-compensation/9986418?sf193603594=1

https://maic.qld.gov.au/government-to-crack-down-on-claim-farming/

https://www.lawyersalliance.com.au/news/ala-in-wa-opposes-claims-harvesting