ABI warns fraud costs up 30%

See analysis: Fake claims

Insurers detect 2000 fraudulent claims every week, worth £14m, and one in five people say they would cheat on their insurance despite the risk of a criminal record, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said.

ABI figures show that in 2008:

• 107,000 fraudulent insurance claims were exposed, a rise of 17% on 2007. Fraudulent claims were worth £730m, up by 30% on the previous year.
• 4% of all GI claims by value were fraudulent, compared to 3% in 2007.
• There were 55,000 false or exaggerated home insurance claims detected (largest by number).
• £360m of fraudulent motor claims were stopped (largest by value), worth 4% of total

In a separate survey of 3,000 adults carried out for the ABI by YouGov, one in five people admitted that they would not rule out making a fraudulent claim in the future.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s director of general insurance and health, said: “Fraud thrives in a recession, so insurers are intensifying their crackdown on insurance cheats. Fraud adds an extra £40 a year to the average premium, which is why the harder we make it for the cheats, the more competitive premiums will be for honest customers.”

See table (right)