Research: False car and home insurance claims on the rise

New research has shown that the number of fraudulent insurance claims in the UK is rising.

New research released today (July 23rd) by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) shows that the number of fraudulent claims on annual insurance packages reached 2,000 per week over the course of last year.

According to the ABI figures, a total of 122,000 illegitimate claims on products such as home insurance and car insurance were made throughout 2009 at a cost of around £840 million.

This statistic - which works out at a weekly sum of £16 million - represents a 14 per cent increase on the statistics posted for 2008.

Car insurance frauds were the highest in value in 2009, with these false claims accounting for almost half - £410 million - of all these instances.

Nick Starling, the ABI's director of general insurance and health, said that this problem is an "ongoing battle" for the UK insurance industry.

Meanwhile, research released earlier this week (July 19th) by Marks & Spencer found that nearly half of the British population risk their home insurance policies by leaving their garden shed unlocked.

By Nate Sawyer