Insurers discover increased cases of fraud

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.

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Chucking out time worst for accidents

Young drivers need more encouragement to stop them driving while drunk as alarming new figures show that fatality rates remain high.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is calling upon the government to step up efforts to tackle the problem of young motorists driving home from the pub.

According to the organisation, the number of young males killed or seriously injured on the roads is three times higher between 23:00 and 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays than at any other time.

“Every weekend 76 young male drivers are killed or seriously injured driving between 23:00 and 01:00,” Justin Jacobs, motor manager at the ABI, told a conference for motor charity Brake. “Too often a night on the town ends in tragedy.

“We need a government information campaign to make young drivers aware of the dangers of driving at night.

“Some insurers already offer lower premiums to young drivers who only drive during the day,” he added.

Mr Jacobs also called for a limit to the number of passengers that young drivers are allowed to carry, citing statistics which show that a youngster with three or more passengers in his car is three times more likely to crash.

Young motorists can bring down their car insurance premiums by shopping around for an insurer that offers competitive rates to those who only drive in certain conditions.

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