Those drivers who have been involved in a road accident, no matter how minor, will know that not only are they stressful and worrying, but the fallout can be particularly time consuming and push up insurance payments considerably.

Dash cams used to rarely be seen in cars and other vehicles but now have become a must-have accessory for many drivers. Thanks to several high-profile incidents where these products have proven to be critical in determining who was at fault during a particular incident, they are now seen to be an essential purchase.

If you have held off purchasing a dash cam for whatever reason, it may finally be time to do so, and we’re only to happy to help you discover the benefits. Take a look at just some of the advantages provided below.

Providing valuable evidence

Accidents can happen quickly, and the stress they cause can mean your memories of them are often cloudy. It is common for your account of an incident to be different from that of the other driver, which can cause problems further down the line. However, with a dash cam, the facts are simply recorded and can be replayed to determine who is telling the truth.

Monitoring the road ahead

Similarly, having a dash cam means you can report any dangerous behaviour displayed by fellow road users. Unfortunately, witnessing unsafe driving from other motorists is a regular occurrence for many of us, but dash cams can help to notify the authorities of bad and dangerous drivers to take preventative action to reduce the chances of an accident..

Protecting your vehicle

Quite often, accidents can take place while your car is parked and you were not present, which makes claiming on insurance a near impossibility. However, dash cam models equipped can keep your vehicle protected with ‘parking mode’ technology, keeping your vehicle protected even when it is parked. Thanks to this feature, you may be able to capture the registration details of the offending vehicle if your car is hit when you are not present.

Keeping insurance premiums in check

Unfortunately, there are some drivers who will intentionally attempt to cause a minor accident in order to gain an insurance settlement - and it is these false claims, or ‘crash for cash’ cases, which have led to skyrocketing insurance premiums for many.

False claims and faked injuries can cost thousands of pounds, but having a dash cam can help to protect motorists against fraud, and ensure you do not pay when you are not to blame.

Recording in-car driver activity

Dash cams are not only useful for recording the behaviour of other motorists, but can be used to monitor the behaviour of those behind the wheel of your car too. Parents of teenagers who are recently qualified could feel reassured by the knowledge that they can keep an eye on a new driver, while business owners managing a fleet of vehicles can make sure their employees are displaying good habits while on the road.

Take a look at our dash cams products here. 

Ever heard the one about criminals driving around the UK and trying to get you to crash into them? Well, I’m afraid this is far from a joke.

These ‘crash for cash’ scams, whereby the criminals insist the accident was not their fault and then make inflated, fraudulent insurance claims worth thousands of pounds, have been in the news of late after it was revealed by the Insurance Fraud Bureau that they cost the UK £340m (€432m) every year.

Crash for cash under the spotlight

What’s more, the spotlight on crash for cash - or ‘induced accidents’ - was intensified last night (25th January) by the BBC in its Inside Out North West TV programme, which provided further insight into how the criminals like to operate, how their activities can affect motorists’ insurance premiums and where the main UK crash for cash hotspots are.

Now, just because it’s been in the news over the past week, it doesn’t mean crash for cash is a new form of criminal activity - it’s actually been running for many years.

However, what was clear about the Inside Out North West programme is that there is a new enemy of these types of scams: dash cams. The programme contained lots of footage of these crashes filmed from the dashboards of cars and buses and showing viewers just how obviously inauthentic and unusual they are. Much of the footage showed cars slowing down suddenly for no reason before the crash - something that is difficult to prove if you didn’t film it, but much easier if you did.

Dash cam sales rise 918%

At Snooper we feel that owning and fitting a dash cam is an important way of combatting these cash for crash criminals and, with an increase of over 918% in dash cam sales between in 2015 compared with 2014 according to figures from GfK*, UK motorists seem to agree.

This follows a trend seen in Russia over the past few years. In an interview with Radio Free Europe back in 2012, Aleksei Dozorov, a motorists’ rights activist, said: “You can get into your car without your pants on, but never get into a car without a dash cam."

So, if you’re thinking of purchasing a dash cam, there are a number of important factors to consider to ensure your footage is acceptable to insurance companies, including:
● purchasing an HD option to ensure the quality of the footage is useable
● ensuring the device has GPS location data, auto-loop recording and a good angle of view (minimum 118°)

More information

Check out Snooper’s range of dash cams and accessories.

You can watch the BBC’s Inside Out North West feature on crash for cash scams here - the feature begins at around the 11 minute mark.

The BBC has also created a guide to avoiding becoming a cash for crash victim, which you can read here.

Have a question for the team at Snooper about dash cams? Feel free to get in touch today. Call +44 (0)1928 579 579 or complete our online contact form.

*GfK is the trusted source of relevant market and consumer information that enables its clients to make smarter decisions. For more about GfK visit www.gfk.com.

To us, there’s nothing quite like that sense of achievement of pitching your tent, parking your motorhome or uncoupling your caravan - with a glass of something cold and watching the sun go down, but that’s not the only thing we appreciate camping. In fact, far from it!

Here is our list of the 11 things we love about camping, please take note Alice Wright!

• 1. That sense of satisfaction you get looking at your tent after you’ve put it up, and realising this is all you need for the next few days. Plug sockets? A toaster? A bath? What are they?!

• 2. The sheer fact that there is no Wi-Fi - sometimes, and we mean sometimes, it’s OK to switch off!

• 3. The smell of bacon cooking on an open fire in the morning, not to mention the fact that you can eat a Full English every morning, guilt free

• 4. Waking up when the sun comes up, or sometimes before - the article makes out like this is a bad thing!? There’s nothing quite as peaceful

• 5. Spending quality time with the family with no TVs, tablets or internet - what’s wrong with a family game of cricket every now and again?!

• 6. It’s perfectly normal to bring your dog/cat along with you!

• 7. The fact that you resign yourself to the fact that it probably will rain, and looking on the bright side when it does. After all, we’re used to it…

• 8. The fact that you don’t have to go abroad to have an amazing summer holiday. That’s right, Old Blighty has everything we need (and love)

• 9. It’s perfectly acceptable to walk around in your pyjamas, and clean your teeth next to a total stranger. We don’t even mind the showers either…

• 10. The sense of community that comes with camping alongside new friends and old

• 11. Being at one with nature. Ok, so it sounds cliche, but we’re fine with that - we’re all about the great outdoors

OK, so we know there aren’t 28 reasons here, but we want to give our followers the chance to have your say. Do you disagree with the Metro article too? What do you love about camping?