Thirty billion a year attributed to fraud

Fraud is a type of crime that has hit the UK, as well as other major economies, hard over the years, and over the past few years, with the credit crisis and the recession taking their toll, the levels of fraud have become even more disturbing. Read more

Tags: insurance fraud, Madoff investment scandal, Crimes, Deception, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, fraud

Recession causes insurance fraud to soar

According to a recent report the level of insurance fraud has been rocketing as a result of the bleak financial climate and the recession. A report was recently released by the Association of British Insurers, and officials from the ABI have said that in 2008 the number of attempts to defraud insurance companies increased by 17 percent compared to 2007. Read more

Tags: Recession causes insurance, Association of British Insurers, road, insurance cheats, insurance claims, report, premiums, insurance fraud

Insurance policies being compromised due to credit crunch

There are many different ways in which UK households are trying to cut back on their monthly outgoings in the current financial climate, as most people are struggling to make ends meet properly due to their finances. Read more

Tags: different ways, finance, financial climate, insurance cover, insurance policies, Association of British Insurers

Don’t be tempted to lie on your insurance application

Insurance is something that many of us take out to protect various aspects of our lives, from our pockets when taking our vehicles on the road and our belongings in our properties to our health and our loved ones in the event of unforeseen problems. Read more

Tags: insurance fraud, insurance applications, household budgets, way, basic cover, Cheating, number, pressure

An increasing number of insurance applicants telling lies

Every year many people apply for a variety of different types of insurance cover in the UK, from home and car insurance cover to life and income insurance cover. However, according to recently released figures there has been a sharp increase in the number of people that are telling lies on their insurance application forms in order to get a better deal on the cost of their insurance cover, and officials have stated that it is the honest consumers that are going to end up paying for these lies. Read more

Tags: finance, driver, application forms, insurance lies, United Kingdom, insurance fraud, abi, cost

People who lie on insurance claims ‘will be found out’

People who try to make fraudulent claims on their insurance are likely to be caught out, according to a financial expert. Read more

Tags: voice, insurance claims, financial expert, fool, insurance fraud, finance, Aviva Canada, Financial economics

Low levels of fraud with life insurance

“There are very low levels of fraud in the life insurance arena,” according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Jonathan French, spokesperson for ABI, said: “Life insurance companies have a number of checks and balances in place to minimise fraud and there are very low levels of fraud in the life insurance arena.”

He added that the ABI have yet to make any official comments on the circumstances surrounding the Anne and John Darwin case, but it is “safe to say it is very unusual”.

In large scale incidents or natural disasters some insurance companies will pay out for life insurance policies even when there was neither a body nor formal death certificate.

This would occur when there was sufficient and substantial evidence for the presence of the individual in an area that was very badly affected, said Mr French.

According to research from the ABI, 40 per cent of households have life insurance. In 2006, the UK insurance industry paid out £17 million per day in death benefits.

Tags: Insurance, finance, life insurance arena, Life insurance companies, insurance fraud, area, Ethics

FSA launches crackdown on insurance fraud

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is working to reduce the amount of financial crime in the insurance industry.

As part of a drive to crackdown on the crime it has launched a reporting system which will see insurance firms alerting the FSA whenever they suspect foul play.

From there the FSA will make a decision as to whether or not it will investigate the case further.

“We are looking to all insurance firms to participate in this scheme and help us beat criminal financial activity in their industry,” said Stephen Bland, director of small firms at the FSA.

“We want to know when a firm has suspicion or evidence of malpractice so that we can act on it where appropriate.

“We hope that by sharing intelligence in this way, we can work together to reduce financial crime,” he added.

Mr Bland went on to say that the new system is similar to the one introduced to combat mortgage fraud and he hopes that it will be just as successful.

The introduction of the system has been welcomed by the Association of British Insurers, praising it for providing a “simple point of contact to raise concerns”.

Tags: intelligence, introduction, Insurance, point of contact, insurance fraud, Financial services, Stephen Bland, suspicion