Fraud motor insurance claims soar
Updated on 03 July 2008
Fraudulent motor insurance claims have soared by 70% during the past three years, figures have showed.
The Association of British Insurers said its members uncovered 24,000 fraudulent car insurance claims worth £260 million during 2007 - the equivalent of £5 million every week.
Motor insurance is now the leading area for fraud, with dishonest motorists making bogus claims in a bid to make money quickly or clear debts.
Overall, insurers uncovered 91,000 fraudulent claims on motor, household, travel and liability insurance during 2007, collectively worth £557 million, with motor insurance fraud accounting for nearly half of this.
The ABI said one policyholder had tried to claim on his insurance after saying his car was stolen.
But he later admitted he had pushed it over a cliff after it emerged that a local newspaper had carried a photograph of the wreck three days before the alleged theft took place.
The man said he had planned to use the insurance payout to meet his hire purchase repayments.
The ABI said insurers were cracking down on fraud, which adds an average of £40 a year to motor insurance premiums.
An ABI spokesman said: "When times are tough people look to raise money, and insurance fraud tends to rise.
"Insurers are on their guard in the current economic climate to weed out the cheats."
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