Fraudulent property insurance claims have risen by 88 percent over the last two years, new research reveals.
Insurance group Zurich UK has today revealed that false property insurance claims have soared in the last two years, likely due to the constraints of the cost-of-living crisis.
The average fraudulent claim was just over £19,000 in the last year alone, a total of £78.5million worth of fraud was uncovered in bogus claims.
This equated to an extra 12 percent (£8 million) saved from fraudsters compared to 2022, equating to £215,117 a day.
More than double the number of property claims were investigated in December compared to the previous year, according to Zurich. Overall, 906 property claims were referred for investigation in 2023, a 44 percent increase from 2022.
YouGov findings published by the Insurance Fraud Bureau suggest a growing number of young adults could turn to insurance fraud as the cost-of-living crisis deepens.
YouGov found that as of 2023 one in four young adults say they would ‘likely’ consider an act of insurance fraud if they were struggling financially.
The 2023 survey found that if struggling financially, over one in four, (27 percent) 18–24-year-olds would think about lying on an insurance application to save money, this was previously just one in five (21 percent) in 2022.
Scott Clayton, head of claims fraud at Zurich, said: “It’s clear that every year fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, sometimes executed by highly organised criminal gangs.
“Whilst there isn’t a silver bullet, it’s important for every insurer to keep pace by using the latest detection technology, alongside human intervention, in order to combat fraud and protect the honest customer.”
Detective chief inspector Tom Hill, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said: “As food, energy and fuel bills remain high, we understand that exaggerating or fabricating a property insurance claim can seem like a quick way to make money.
“But pursuing a fraudulent insurance claim has very real consequences. It can make it harder to secure insurance in the future, and even result in a criminal conviction.
