‘Owners are deliberately harming their own pets’ as fraud rockets to £2m a year
Pet fraud is exploding as recession-hit pet owners try to trick insurers with fake claims, the ABI says.
Detected pet fraud went up from £420,000 in 2009 to £1.92m last year, the ABI says.
The ABI is now creating a shared database to clamp down on pet fraud.
Carys Clarke, a solicitor who works as an insurance fraud investigator for law firm Berrymans Lace Mawer, said some owners were even harming their pets.
She said: “Between 2008 and 2010 the number of claims where fraud has been suspected or proven has increased by 440%.
“As in motor insurance, the types of pet fraud vary, but suspicions are often aroused by potentially exaggerated claims for treatment.
“In addition to the loss of use and value of the animal, the deliberate destruction or maiming of an animal can also be disguised as an accident and deliberate destruction of an animal by a veterinary surgeon when unnecessary are also areas where fraud might arise.”
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