ABI reveals fraudulent claims cost more than £16m a week

Insurers are detecting more fraudulent insurance claims than ever according to figures released today by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Last year, over 2,000 dishonest insurance claims worth more than £16m were detected every week.

The ABI figures show that in 2009 a total of 122,000 fraudulent insurance claims were uncovered, up 14% on 2008.

The value of these claims, at £840m, rose by 14% on the previous year. Motor insurance frauds were highest by value, with dishonest claims totalling £410 million uncovered. The most common frauds involved home insurance, with 62,000 bogus or exaggerated claims detected.

Some 4% of all claims by cost were fraudulent. This is similar to 2008, although double the figure of five years ago.

The ABI said that many of the 8,500 dishonest liability claims exposed involved bogus personal injuries.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s director of general insurance and health, said: “Reducing fraud remains an ongoing battle for the insurance industry. Our honest customers rightly object to having to pay higher premiums to subsidise the fraudulent minority, which is why insurers continue to up their game in the war on the cheats.

“Whether claiming against a third party for bogus personal injury or on their own insurance, fraudsters are more likely than ever to get caught, leading to more expensive and harder to obtain insurance and credit, and the possibility of a criminal record.”