Weblog

With the hurrah of the Biba conference now slowly subsiding, it’s time to get back down to business.

“Fake Claims”, a recent insurancetimes.co.uk analysis, that followed the release of the ABI’s fraud figures last month, has struck a chord with online readers.

To keep the momentum going, we’re launching a dedicated Fake Claims section on the website to let you know about the most “interesting” claims to land on a broker’s or insurer’s desk.

If you’ve got any tales to share, then send them over. To kick things off, here’s a couple of tidbits from our Fake Claims analysis:

Fake vehicle theft

A policyholder claimed that his car had been stolen from a car park. It was later found at the bottom of a cliff, with no signs of forced entry. A local newspaper carried a picture of the car in its resting place – two days before the alleged theft. The policyholder admitted that he had pushed the car over the cliff, and that he planned to use the insurance payout to pay his debts.

Household insurance

A customer’s coal fire exploded, showering her living room carpet with coal, but causing no damage. Several weeks later she claimed under her household policy for a large burn mark on her carpet, that she alleged was caused by the explosion. However the burn was under her sofa. When asked to explain how a large ball of flame travelled past her and lodged under the sofa, she withdrew the claim.

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