Insurers point to rising suspect claims and cost of fraud
Admiral‘s chief operating officer David Stevens, said that Admiral had referred “roughly a third” more suspicious claims to its anti-fraud team during the first half of 2009, the Times reports.
These included fake whiplash claims after minor prangs, or clients lying about how many passengers they had in their vehicles at the time of an accident.
“There is some evidence that people are either creating fictitious claims or lying about the number of people in their cars,” he said. “The industry is feeling some rise in fraud, including organised gangs committing fraud.”
Aviva sees rises too
Aviva said that it had found 29,000 fraudulent claims worth a total of £200m in 2008, a rise of 30% by volume and 20% in value. Cases of insurance fraud have risen a tenth so far this year, Aviva said.
Andrew Buck, claims fraud manager for Aviva, said: “We have seen significant increases in both the motor and household arena. We cannot say how much of this is solely down to the economic climate. Clearly when times are tougher, crime increases.”
Insurance Fraud Bureau
The reports come on the back of a new report from the Insurance Fraud Bureau that says insurance fraudsters are becoming more brazen in their bogus claims. Such as with the “crash for cash” car crime.
The IFB’ “Cheatline” telephone service for tip-offs about suspect claims has since received more than 2,000 reports.
