IFB's Cheatline on the up

The Insurance Fraud Bureau has seen website figures and Cheatline reports figures rise significantly during 2009.

This is due to an increase in public awareness around the crash for cash phenomena and organised insurance fraud, it claims.

It said media coverage of a high profile investigation into a cash for crash fraud ring that concluded last October in a court hearing in Manchester increased public awareness and led to a 56% increase in visitors to the IFB website on the day the case concluded comparing to the previous 24 hours.

The IFB's Cheatline also saw record months of reports in October and November with a total of 422 reports of information on insurance fraud being received, over 50% of these reports came in using the Cheatline online facility.

The IFB's consumer advice service has also grown significantly, with a 483% increase in October 2009 during the conclusion of the operation.

IFB board member Richard Davies said: “We have been delighted with the increased media interest in the results of our collaborative initiatives with various bodies and associations.

"We appreciate that our efforts will only be fully realised by educating the public and the industry alike of the scale of the harm that fraudsters can inflict. Media focus on the human element of insurance fraud is one of our strongest allies and we intend to work hard to ensure that the Bureau remains in the media spotlight.”