A 'crash for cash' plot which could have netted £33,000 has been smashed by police after three convictions.
A couple from Merseyside and a man from Cheshire - who police said conspired to 'stage' a crash - have been brought to justice.
Detectives said the trio had a 'colourful history of making personal injury claims' and thought they could 'cheat the system.
An investigation found they had lodged 15 claims over a seven-year period, police added, and evidence 'strongly suggested it was an induced collision'.
Details of the failed scam have been revealed by the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).
Daniel Smith took out an insurance policy for a Vauxhall Insignia in June, 2018.
Two days later, he contacted the insurer to report he had been involved in a collision in Ellesmore Port.
Smith, police said, claimed he was driving to a shopping centre with his partner, Natalie Banks, when he got lost and swerved into a stationary BMW to avoid an oncoming car.
Daniel Taylor, the BMW's owner, also contacted the insurer to report he had been inside his mother's house when his car, parked outside, was hit by Smith's Vauxhall, police said.
Both cars were inspected by the insurer and declared a total loss, with the BMW given a pre-accident valuation of £26,265 and the Insignia an estimation of £5,260.
Two weeks after the smash, the insurer was notified Banks was claiming for whiplash to her neck, back and shoulders - injuries which claimants are generally compensated around £2,000 for.
Whilst managing the claims, police said the insurer became suspicious of the short amount of time between Smith taking out the policy and the collision.
As a result, the insurer launched an investigation.
IFED said: "Searches soon revealed that fifteen personal injury claims had been made between the trio across a seven-year period.
"Research conducted by a collisions investigator established that the crash had not occurred in the way that had been reported to the insurer by the vehicle occupants.
"When later interviewed, Smith was unable to account for the discrepancies, strongly suggesting that it was an induced collision."
The force said call data from Banks' mobile phone placed it near her home address - a 40 minute drive from the scene.
IFED added: "In his original statement to his insurance company, Smith asserted that he had phoned a recovery service before contacting the insurer, and waited with his vehicle for it to be retrieved.
"However, Smith later contradicted this statement in an interview with officers, claiming that he left the car at the scene and took a taxi home.
"Phone records additionally exposed that Smith had not contacted a recovery service, which was confirmed by the garage he claimed to have used."
The force said CCTV also showed Smith's car was being driven after the crash, refuting his claim it couldn't be driven and had been recovered by a garage.
All three pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and were sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Thursday.
Smith, 38, of The Marian Close, Bootle, Sefton, was jailed for 20 months, suspended for 18 months
His partner Banks, 42, of Grogan Square, Bootle, Sefton, received an 18-month community order.
Taylor, 36, of Princes Road, Ellesemore Port, Cheshire, was jailed for 22 months, suspended for 18 months.
Detective Constable Adam Maskell said: "With a colourful history of making personal injury claims, it seems that the trio thought they could cheat the system by contriving this collision in order to defraud an insurer out of a substantial amount of money.
"However, it's quite clear that they did not consider how many glaringly obvious inconsistencies there were in this plot, which quickly caught them out."
