July 24, 2010 – 5:50 pm
Insurers are currently exposing over 2,300 fraudulent claims every week, according to new data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The figure has risen from a weekly total of 2,000 dishonest claims in 2009, worth over £16 million.
Last year, 122,000 fraudulent insurance claims were uncovered, up 14% on a year earlier.
By value, 4% of all claims were fraudulent in 2009, with motor insurance claims highest in value (£410 million), although the most common frauds involved home insurance (62,000 bogus or exaggerated claims detected).
With liability claims, many of the 8,500 cases exposed involved bogus personal injuries, such as those of a young woman who claimed to have tripped over a loose pavement but had actually injured herself by jumping down a flight of stairs when fleeing from security guards.
ABI director general, Nick Starling, says: “Our honest customers rightly object to having to pay higher premiums to subsidise the fraudulent minority, which is why insurers continue to up their game in the war on the cheats.”
He adds: “Whether claiming against a third party for bogus personal injury or on their own insurance, fraudsters are more likely than ever to get caught, leading to more expensive and harder to obtain insurance and credit, and the possibility of a criminal record.”
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