In the last year, insurance fraud worth £3.6 million every day was identified by fraud regulators, who warned it is merely the “tip of the iceberg” and say there are many more bogus claims which have yet to be found out.
Police and insurance companies found that the value of false car insurance, home insurance and travel insurance claims made, had risen to a total of £1.2 billion, with 350 fraudulent claims made each day.
Figures from a national fraud unit, which is run by police and insurers, indicate that such fraudulent claims are costing households an extra £90 on their bills. They spent approximately £200m each year in an attempt to cut down on the number of fraudulent claims being made.
There were 130,000 false claims discovered last year, with car insurance leading the way with 67,000 of them. This represented a value of £835m. This was then followed by property insurance, which had 24,500 false claims worth almost £110m.
James Dalton, of the Association of British Insurers, said: “Whether they are making a dishonest claim or lying when applying for cover to get a cheaper premium, insurance cheats are more likely to get caught than ever before. They face long-lasting and serious consequences.”