Insurers discover increased cases of fraud
October 20, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Insurance
British insurance companies are uncovering greater numbers of frauds every day.
According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) in excess of £1 million worth of fraudulent insurance claims are made every day.
This number of claims uncovered and prevented rises to a total yearly claims figure of £480 million which represents three times the amount found in 2003.
Nick Starling, Director of General Insurance and Health at the ABI, said: “Fraudulent insurance claims cost £1.6 billion, and add £40 a year to the premiums paid by honest customers.
“But the industry is fighting back. Insurance cheats are more likely to be caught than ever before. And cheats will pay a high price as future insurance and credit will be more expensive and harder to obtain”
The majority of fraudulent claims (85 per cent) involve the claimant exaggerating the value of the loss of money or possessions, with over half of falsified claims regarding household insurance.
One example of a fraudulent claim concerns a man who asked for “recovery expenses” after allegedly suffering a heart attack on holiday in West Africa. He in fact used the money for visits to local brothels.
