The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has launched a briefing paper on insurance fraud that estimates more than £1bn worth of fraudulent claims are submitted to insurers each year in personal lines.
Based on industry data sharing and claims handling techniques, this accounts for 10% of the total value of personal motor claims and 15% of household claims.
The briefing note also contains an attitude survey, commissioned by Royal & SunAlliance, which revealed that 69% of the 2,000 surveyed would make a dishonest claim if they thought they could get away with it. And 46% thought most people inflated the value of a claim by at least one third.
The ABI said it was attempting to target fraudsters more intensively through greater pooling of resources and expertise, developing a bespoke single industry-wide anti-fraud database and stepping up liaisons with the government and the police.
The ABI's anti-fraud committee chairman David Neave said: "Honest policyholders should be reassured that we are turning up the heat on insurance cheats."
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
