Aviva has reported an increase in the value of detected fraud for the second year in a row and says the Civil Liability Bill is key to removing financial incentives
Aviva has reported that the value of detected fraud has increased for the second year in a row.
The insurer says an increase in the number of fraudulent claims it has detected is the driving force behind the value increase.
The value has increased by 5.4% and now sits at £90m for 2017 (2016: £85m). That is equivalent to £246,000 every day.
The number of fraudulent claims detected rose by 6.3%.
Whiplash still dominant
Motor injury claims still remains the top concern for Aviva.
It represents almost two-thirds (£59m) of the value. A £9m increase on figures from 2016.
Aviva now rejects around one out of eight whiplash claims it receives which are suspect or fraudulent.
Industry figures may have shown a drop in the number of fraudulent whiplash claims, but Aviva says it has not seen such a drop. It says it is currently investigating over 17,000 cases of personal injury which it suspects is fraudulent. This is 1,000 more than 2016.
Civil Liability Bill needed
Aviva says these figures highlight how important the Civil Liability Bill is. It says the bill would remove the financial incentive for opportunistic fraud and bring down the cost of motor insurance.
Aviva says the bill should also include a way to remove the incentives behind the nearly 900m nuisance calls and texts made chasing an injury or insurance issue.
Tom Gardiner, head of fraud at Aviva, said: “Whilst it’s good news that the number of accidents is falling, we are still detecting more fraudulent claims than before. Whiplash fraud continues to present the biggest threat to customers – not just in terms of pushing premiums up, but by fraudsters putting innocent motorists at the risk of real harm by deliberately causing accidents to make bogus whiplash claims.
“Change is urgently needed. The proposed Civil Liability Bill will deter fraudsters from pursuing their campaign of crash for cash, simply to line their pockets. The good news in the meantime is that we are detecting, disrupting and prosecuting more fraud.”
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