469000 frauds detected: ABI

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) recently published its detected fraud figures. The total number of fraudulent claims and applications detected in 2018, at 469,000, rose by three percent on 2017, with their value up by six percent. Every day, 1,300 insurance scams are uncovered, with the average con of GBP12,000.

During the last year, the equivalent of two cheats every week received a criminal conviction or a caution for insurance fraud. Cases were investigated by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, the specialist police insurance fraud investigation unit funded by the insurance industry. The ABI’s latest detected fraud figures show that in 2018 among the 469,000 cases, 98,000 were fraudulent claims, with 371,000 dishonest insurance applications. Motor insurance scams remained the most common and most expensive with 55,000 dishonest claims worth GBP629 million detected. The number and value of these claims both fell on the previous year – down eight percent and nine percent respectively. Of the 55,000 motor insurance frauds, 80 percent involved personal injury fraud. These ranged from staged crash for cash frauds to opportunistic scams.