ABI data shows annual fraudulent claims remain above £1bn

Some £1.16bn of fraudulent claims were lodged across 2024, a 2% increase on the £1.14bn figure in 2023.

This is according to new data from the ABI, released today (17 November 2025), which also revealed that fraud cases jumped 12% between years, up from 81,100 cases to 98,400.

Some 56% of fraud cases – 51,700 incidents – stemmed from the motor insurance market. Motor insurance has consistently topped the fraud rankings and false claims grew 5% in value between 2023 and 2024, accounting for £576m of attempted fraud.

Property insurance fraud also grew substantially between periods, with the sector seeing £189m in false or deceptive claims, an increase of 11%.

Across sectors, the exaggerating of claims remained the most common fraudulent activity, with a 10% growth in occurrences year-on-year.

Application fraud – the practice of hiding or supplying misrepresented information on applications – grew to 684,800 prevented cases, up 7.4% on 2023.

Nik Jethwa, detective chief inspector at the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, warned of the continued impact of high-level fraud such as ghost broking and luxury watch scams.

“Recent convictions and proactive operations, such as our work at Heathrow disrupting luxury watch fraud, demonstrate our commitment to tackling organised insurance crime head-on. With fraudulent claims now exceeding £1bn, our operational focus remains clear – disrupt, deter and bring offenders to justice,” he added.

Tackling fraud

Mark Allen, head of fraud and financial crime at the ABI, said: “It’s reassuring to see the industry making continued progress in tackling fraud, but with insurers continuing to detect over £1bn worth of bogus claims, the fight must continue and there will be no let-up in insurers’ pursuit of fraudsters.

“Fraud doesn’t just harm its victims. It drives up premiums for everyone and causes grave emotional distress.

“That’s why cracking down on bogus claims and applications remains a top priority, but fraud can’t be tackled in isolation. It needs a collaborative approach alongside those in other sectors.”