Nationwide arrests as IFED cracks down on travel insurance fraud

Eleven people have been arrested as part of an Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) investigation into fraudulent travel insurance claims.

Claims investigated by IFED have ranged from £500 to more than £14,000, with some 70 IFED police officers involved in the investigations.

Ten men and one woman were arrested by IFED on suspicion of fraud by false representation or conspiracy to defraud, with a further three people interviewed after voluntarily attending a police station.

During the operation officers seized thousands of pounds in cash, clothing, jewellery, electrical items and travel insurance claim forms, as well as doctors’ stamps and medical certificates that are suspected of being fraudulent.

DCI Dave Wood, head of IFED, said: “Today’s operation should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of submitting a false or exaggerated travel insurance claim to make back some holiday money or even pay for their whole trip. It may seem like an easy way to boost your bank balance but the reality is that those who take this path should expect the same sharp knock on the door received by the people we arrested today.”