Briefing: Operation Henhouse puts the fox among the fraudster chickens

In February 2026, the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (Ifed) supported Operation Henhouse, the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) fraud intensification month, working with police forces across the country to target the forms of insurance fraud causing the greatest public harm.

As part of this work, Ifed brought together specialist policing resources – including public order teams for rapid entry and enhanced intelligence functions – and collaborated with industry partners to maximise the unit’s impact in detecting, disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups.

This year, Operation Henhouse was focused was on ghost brokers – fraudsters that pose as a legitimate insurance intermediary to sell fake or invalid insurance policies, typically at significantly discounted prices.

During this latest intensification work, officers also uncovered criminality linked to fraudulent travel, pet, medical – including dental – crash for cash and contrived motor claims, property damage and money laundering.

What were the key results?

During the month-long Operation Henhouse, Ifed issued conditional cautions to suspects that admitted to offending and who agreed to repay the funds they had obtained. This method provided an effective out of court disposal route.

Ifed also carried out 18 arrests and voluntary interviews, including two suspects that were intercepted immediately after landing at Heathrow Airport. This was achieved thanks to close coordination with the Home Office and local policing teams.

The department additionally conducted multiple search warrants executed at residential and commercial addresses, recovering subscriber identity module (sim) cards, phones, computers, digital devices, cash and jewellery.

Driving down fraud

Operation Henhouse further identified a trend that Ifed was already seeing on the rise – fraudulent motor insurance apps designed to make users appear legitimately insured.

These apps, often advertised as being able to “fool police at the roadside”, use genuine insurer branding and slick interfaces to mislead drivers into thinking they hold a valid insurance policy. In reality, the policies are entirely fake.

In response to this threat, Ifed launched an operation with the Metropolitan Police Service in November 2025. This focus resulted in five arrests linked to the development and sale of these bogus apps, including the arrest of a former Metropolitan Police officer. Ifed believes these apps may have been used by tens of thousands of drivers nationwide.

Following the arrests, Ifed identified end users who had downloaded the apps. So far, around 50 individuals have been visited and issued with cease and desist notices, which will remain on police systems should they come to notice in any future insurance related matters.

Power of partnership

Operation Henhouse demonstrates the power of partnership in combating fraud.

Ifed continues to work tirelessly to detect, disrupt and dismantle individual fraudsters and organised crime groups that wrongly believe they can profit from defrauding the insurance sector.

Operation Henhouse is a clear reminder that Ifed will hold offenders to account.