27 people were targeted in five days, with claims worth over £250,000
The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) has spent a week targeting ’opportunistic fraudsters’ in a nationwide enforcement operation.
Between 5 November and 9 November, 27 people were targeted by IFED, who suspected they had submitted frauduclent or exaggerated claims for their own financial gain.
This figure rose to 32 as two interviews led to five further suspects being identified.
20 were interviewed during the week, 12 were not at their address but will be questioned in due course.
The total reserve held by the insurers for these claims added up to £261,540.
As part of the operation, IFED received referrals from a host of insurers such as Admiral, Allianz, AXA, Hiscox and Lloyd’s.
Bus-load of lies
One case involved a man who claimed he had been involved in a road traffic accident on his motorbike, but CCTV footage showed that he wasn’t on his bike when the accident took place.
Another involved a woman who tried to claim on her pet insurance for her cat’s dental surgery. But she took out the pet insurance hours after the surgery had taken place.
In a previous operation from May 2018, IFED cautioned a man who claimed to have been dragged by a bus when he had tried to get on.
But, CCTV footage showed him getting on the next bus and sitting down, completely unharmed.
See the footage below:
Detective chief inspector Craig Mullish, acting head of IFED said: “‘Opportunistic’ fraud is different to other types of insurance fraud, such as ‘crash for cash’ and ghost broking, in that often the claim made by the fraudster isn’t pre-mediated and hasn’t involved a high amount of planning.
“They see a chance to make a financial gain and go through with it, completely underestimating the severity of their dishonest actions and the impact it has on the cost of insurance premiums, which become higher for everyone.
“We’re confident that these week long operations will send a clear and forceful message to anyone who is thinking of making a fraudulent claim and deter them from doing so in the future.”
IFED have three more week-long operations planned in order to continue to target opportunistic fraudsters and also other types of insurance fraud.
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