Man jailed after using different identities to submit fake travel insurance claims

A 27-year-old from Liverpool has been jailed after using the identities of family members and former colleagues to submit over £75,000-worth of fake travel insurance claims to insurer Aviva.

Joshua Moorcroft was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday 22 August 2022 after pleading guilty to 15 counts of fraud by false representation at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Monday 25 July 2022.

Moorcroft’s sentencing was a result of Aviva referring the suspected fraudulent claims for missed or cancelled travel to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) for investigation.

IFED’s detective constable, Justin Hawes, said: “Moorcroft has shown very little regard in terms of who he has implicated whilst committing these crimes, including his family, former colleagues [and] partner.

“I don’t doubt that he has put all of these innocent parties through a lot of stress by doing so.

“Hopefully this result will force him to reflect on his actions and the impact they have had on those around him.”

Setting the scene

In October 2019, Moorcroft took out a multitrip worldwide insurance policy, underwritten by Aviva.

Nine days after the cover commenced, he submitted a claim for a missed flight from Manchester to New York after his taxi allegedly broke down on the way to the airport, due to an exploded tyre.

To substantiate his claim, Moorcroft provided a screenshot of an email that was supposedly from one of the police officers who attended the scene.

Then, in February 2020, Moorcroft submitted a further three claims relating to missed trips on account of him having surgery on a fractured hand.

He claimed that he was forced to cancel two upcoming trips to Dubai and Las Vegas because of having to wait until the pins from his surgery had been removed.

Moorcroft provided documents to support this, alledgedly from the travel company involved and his local hospital.

After Aviva contacted the travel company, however, it found there was no record of the booking to Dubai.

Further checks conducted by Aviva found that Moorcroft had requested quotes for these holidays in 2018, but did not complete the bookings – prompting the insurer to investigate Moorcroft’s earlier claims for missed flights.

The police force here confirmed that the alleged email screenshot submitted by Moorcroft was fake.

Aviva then referred the case to IFED for further investigation.

The arrest

Moorcroft was arrested by IFED at his partner’s home in October 2020, where officers seized evidence - including a phone and laptop.

Moorcroft admitted full responsibility for the five fraudulent claims Aviva had identified, but denied there were any others.

IFED then examined the seized devices - this revealed a further 10 fraudulent claims made across Aviva and five other insurance companies.

These claims related to multiple trips around the world, which were cancelled for reasons such as the Covid-19 pandemic, redundancy and injury.

Unlike the previously submitted claims, where he used his own personal details, each of these 10 policies were taken out by Moorcroft using the names of people he knew – including his partner, his partner’s parents and former work colleagues.

In one instance, he used his partner’s name for a claim relating to a missed trip in Barbados, which was cancelled due to her supposedly being made redundant.

To support the claim, Moorcroft provided a signed letter supposedly from his partner’s employer - the organisation was subsequently contacted to confirm authenticity.

However, the company director confirmed to IFED that he had never employed anyone with Moorcroft’s partner’s name, but he did know the individual in question as the girlfriend of his cousin.

Moorcroft admitted to the further 10 fraudulent claims found on his devices during a follow-up interview with IFED.

Aviva’s special investigations unit manager, Carl Mather, said the insurer “welcomes the sentencing” of Moorcroft.

He continued: “The court has recognised the serious and cynical nature of Moorcroft’s offending and he is also the subject of a proceeds of crime investigation, which is aimed at identifying and seizing recoverable assets on behalf of Aviva.

“Moorcroft’s greed has now left him with a criminal record, a tarnished reputation and an uncertain future.

“Aviva will continue to invest in counter fraud capability and is resolutely committed to safeguarding honest customers by taking positive action whenever fraud is detected.”