Bogus insurance claims hit record high
Dishonest householders making bogus claims on motor and residential plans pushed value of detected insurance fraud into a record 840m not too long ago.
The figures, released today via the Association of British Insurers, reveal that 122,000 fraudulent insurance claims were uncovered a year ago, up 14% around the previous year, although worth of the claims also rose by 14% on 2008 figures.
Although motor insurance claims were highest by value, the most widespread frauds involved insurance with 62,000 bogus or exaggerated claims detected during the past year.
Examples of home insurance fraud include exaggerating claims by building extra what to people dropping their old television along the stairs in order to claim for your new flat-screen model.
The development of fraudulent claims is pushed up with the 8,500 dishonest personal liability claims made in 2009. Included in this are he who claimed he previously fractured his hand after falling over the pothole in the street, substantially fact he has sustained the injury after he punched a wall during a domestic dispute. Another was from a young woman who claimned to own tripped more than a loose pavement a lot more fact her injuries were sustained from jumping down a direct flight ticket of stairs while running from the security system on suspicion of shoplifting.
Nick Starling of the ABI said: “Our honest customers rightly resist coughing up higher premiums to subsidise the fraudulent minority, which is the reason insurers go on to up their game while in the war on the cheats.”
A report out earlier in the week within the AA established that the cost of motor insurance has expanded at its fastest ever rate, largely a result of development of fraudulent claims. Within the 12 weeks towards end of June, vehicle insurance premiums increased by 11.5% to 704 for any average annual comprehensive car policy, as per the AA British Insurance Premium Index. This can be a biggest increase recorded because of the motoring organisation given it started tracking quarterly insurance premium trends 16 a long time ago.
That report pointed towards a big boost in organised fraud, whereby criminal gangs try to systematically defraud insurers. The most typical technique for repeating this is via a “cash for crash” scam wherein criminals stage accidents, typically at roundabouts, by slamming their brakes on suddenly resulting in the car behind to crash into them. The fraudsters then claim to your value of repair or replacing of their vehicle about the innocent driver’s insurance.
While the amount of fraud cases detected by insurers are at an increasing high, the total cost on the industry of undetected general insurance claims fraud is considered to become around 2bn annually. This typically adds 44 each year for the insurance charges paid by all policyholders.
