Crooked insurance claims in UK on the rise
A rise in the number of fraudulent insurance claims in the UK is costing the industry an estimated £1.6bn a year and pushing up the price of cover for honest policyholders.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said that, between March 2006 and March 2007, one in every 11 claims was in some way fraudulent, reports The Guardian. Insurers uncovered dishonest claims worth £1.3m a day – three times the figure in 2003 – but the ABI said it believed false claims worth an additional £1.6bn were going undetected each year.
Insurance fraud was adding about 5%, or £40 a year, to premiums paid by honest policyholders. However, Nick Starling, director of General Insurance and Health at the ABI, said the industry was getting better at detecting fraud.