Record number of fraudulent claims detected
Aug 9, 2011
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has released figures showing that in 2010 Insurers detected more fraudulent claims than ever before.
The figures make startling reading:
- Insurers uncovered 133,000 fraudulent insurance claims - 2,500 every week - up 9% on 2009. The value of these claims was £919 million, also up 9% on the previous year.
- Over the last five years both the number and overall value of insurance frauds detected have risen by over 100%.
- The most common frauds involved home insurance with 66,000 bogus or exaggerated claims detected, followed by dishonest motor insurance frauds with 40,000 frauds uncovered. Motor frauds were the most costly, totalling £466 million.
- The value of savings from detected frauds represented 5% of all claims, compared to 4% in 2009
Cheats uncovered by insurers included:
- A claim for back injuries apparently sustained from a fall whilst working in a nightclub was rejected when Facebook images showed the claimant performing gymnastics and training for a charity run.
- A woman’s claim for facial injuries which she said resulted from a falling toilet roll holder in a fast food outlet was rejected when it was shown that the holder would have had to have fallen upwards to cause the injury claimed.
- A man claimed for a ‘lost’ engagement ring. His ex partner said that she was never given a ring as they had never been engaged. On the same day the man said he had suddenly found the ring.
- A claim by a woman for the loss of a £2,000 watch after a night out was rejected when the photograph she provided of her allegedly wearing the watch turned out to be that of a friend.
- A claim for injury said to be caused by falling over a wall was rejected when it was proved that there was no wall at the scene of the alleged incident.
Richard Blackburn, Wilby Ltd Managing Director, said: “This is great news for customers, the savings made by identifying such claims mean that their potential cost is not passed on to honest customers in the form of higher premiums.”
However there is always more that can be done to combat fraud. Early next year the ABI will be setting up a National Insurance Fraud Register which will contain details of all known insurance cheats. At the same time the first ever National Police Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit will begin its operations, making it harder than ever to commit insurance fraud.
It is estimated that insurance fraud costs £2billion a year, adding, on average, an extra £44 a year to the insurance bill for every UK policyholder.
