“After years of paying premiums,” fraud specialist Tony Jones told MSN Money, “some policyholders believe it is time to get something out of it.”
Jones is client services director at fraud firm Treating Customers Fairly (TCF), who reckon eight out of ten adult UKians would consider exaggerating or fabricating an insurance claim “or know someone who has.”
Believe it or not: fraudulent insurance claims cost £1.9 billion a year, adding £44 to the average UK premium, with an estimated £5.2 million of fraudulent claims going undetected every day!
The main offenders, according to MSN’s report are “males between the ages of 18 and 34 in full-time employment, with an income of more than £30,000 and non-mortgage debt of more that £5,000.”
The current economic downturn has unleashed a spate of upgrade-necessitating damage to electronic equipment: mobiles dropped in water closets, laptops drenched by beverages, that kind of thing.
Accidental damage to high-value items like LCD TVs and high-end watches has increased by as much as 35% since 2008, says MSN, quoting “insurers.”
And why bother with scrappage or swappage or sewage, or whatever it is now, when you can simply torch your car, report it stolen and cash in on the insurance? Treating Customers Fairly report a 300% increase in motor arson claims from 2008 to 2009.
“I love the smell of burning Nissan in the morning,” commented Keith (not real name), 24.
