Claims from staged road ‘accidents’ are costing law-abiding motorists up to €75 extra on their premiums a year, according to a leading insurance company.

A car crash that was deliberately set up for a fraudulent compensation claim did not cause enough damage at first and one car was seen reversing and crashing a second time into another vehicle before gardaí were called to the scene, a court has heard.

Gardaí have charged 16 people with various counts of deception and making false reports in relation to orchestrated traffic accidents.