Fraudulent insurance claims jumped by 12% last year, with insurers detecting more than £1bn in scams. New Association of British Insurers (ABI) data shows that most shady claims were for car cover, accounting for more than half of all incidents.
Exaggerating the value of the loss was the most common con, but fraudsters were also caught for illegal ghost-broker schemes and lying about their identity.
But you don’t need to be a criminal mastermind to commit fraud. Telling white lies or stretching the truth when applying for cover can also have serious consequences. Here, Which? takes a closer look at the data and offers tips on reducing your premium without breaking the law.
Insurance fraud rose in 2024
The ABI shows that insurers uncovered more than 98,400 fraud-related claims in 2024 – that’s up 12% on the previous year, when 88,100 cases were detected.
These claims were worth a total of £1.16bn, only a slight increase from £1.14bn in 2023. This could mean that the size of the average fraudulent claim has decreased, despite the overall number (and total cost) rising.
More than half of bogus claims were for car insurance, with insurers spotting 51,700 motor scams last year, worth £576m. That’s 5% more than in 2023. There were also 18,700 dodgy property insurance claims, worth £189m – a rise of 11% compared with the previous year.
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What are most fraud cases about?
The ABI says most fraudulent claims involved deliberately exaggerating how much the loss was worth. Claims for this type of fraud rose by 10% to £466m.
Last year, insurers also identified 684,800 fraudulent insurance applications, a 7.4% increase from 2023. Application fraud is when someone lies about important information when taking out a policy.
Some scams were more sophisticated, however. For example, the ABI cites the case of a father and son who were sentenced for conning insurance customers out of more than £61,000. The ‘ghost-broking’ scam involved selling fake policies using forged documents and leaving victims unprotected.
Another man pocketed nearly £12,000 by using multiple identities and making fake home insurance claims. It was the second time he’d been caught committing fraud and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
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What can happen if you lie to your insurer?
At best, lying to your insurer could mean your claim is rejected. At worst, your policy could be invalidated or – in serious cases – you could face fines, prosecution and a criminal record. That’s because dishonesty, either when applying for cover or making a claim, counts as fraud.
As a result, you could potentially have your name added to the Insurance Fraud Register. This is an industry-wide database of known fraudsters, used by insurers when making underwriting decisions and assessing claims.
If you end up on the list, you could struggle with future insurance and mortgage applications.
6 legal ways to reduce costs
Insurance prices might be high, but the risks of lying are simply not worth it. Here, we outline ways to keep the cost of your premium down without being dishonest.
1. Shop around
It’s a cliché, but seeing what other deals are out there before renewing or buying a new policy is one of the most effective ways to secure lower premiums.
Price comparison sites such as Compare the Market, Confused.com, GoCompare and MoneySuperMarket let you view multiple car insurance quotes at a glance.
Some insurers, such as Direct Line and NFU Mutual, aren’t on comparison websites, so you’ll need to get quotes directly from them.
2. Buy early
Renewing early could save you hundreds of pounds.
With car insurance, you’ll often get a cheaper price if you buy your cover a few weeks (rather than a few days) in advance of the policy start date.
Shopping around early also allows you to fully research the market or negotiate your insurer’s price to make sure you get the best deal.
- Find out more: the worst time of day to buy car insurance
3. Choose annual cover
While paying for insurance in instalments can make the costs easier to manage, the interest charged on monthly payments significantly affects the total amount you’ll pay.
If you need to spread your payments, one alternative is to buy cover upfront with an interest-free credit card and pay off a 12th of the balance each month.
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4. Don’t automatically renew
Never agree to the auto-renewal clause included in your insurance agreement. This means that once your initial one-year contract lapses, you’ll be automatically enrolled for another year at the price the insurer quotes for your renewal.
Instead, use the best quotes you’ve gathered to negotiate with your insurer and take your new business elsewhere if it doesn’t improve its offer.
5. Tweak the excess
If you’re willing to pay a higher excess, your insurer will offer a cheaper premium. However, make sure you choose your excess carefully.
Setting the bar too high, especially if it starts getting too close to your claims limit, might make claiming on your insurance either pointless or too expensive.
6. Haggle for a better price
If you don’t want to switch to another insurer, you might be able to get the price down by haggling.
Contact your insurer to ask if it would be prepared to reduce its quote to keep your custom.
It will help if you’ve done a little shopping around first, so you can give examples of what its rivals are offering.
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