Insurance fraud often from “financially stressed” says Experian director

Detected insurance fraud rose 23% in 2011 when compared to 2010, according to a new fraud index published by Experian.

Almost 11 applications and claims out of 10,000 were fraudulent last year, compared to 8.89 out of every 10,000 the year before.

Experian UK & Ireland director of identity & fraud Nick Mothershaw said: “About 70% of financial services application fraud in the UK fraud is down to first parties misrepresenting their circumstances, and the products such as mortgages and insurance that have seen fraud soar over the last year have a significant first party fraud element to them. This kind of fraud tends to originate from financially stressed segments of society.”

Experian’s fraud index uses information from National Hunter and Insurance Hunter fraud prevention software, which flags up potential fraud to users.