Many of you will be aware that there are a number of fraudulent applications for motor insurance but did you realize the huge scale of the problem? Would you be surprised if we were to tell you that last year insurance companies identified 180,675 attempted fraudulent applications for this type of insurance – that is just under 3,500 cases a week.
We are sure that you will agree this is a staggering figure and must be giving the industry cause for concern. This information has been provided at the Fraud Conference of the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The sort of fraudulent applications include some people not disclosing information about previous motoring convictions that are still showing on their record and details of previous claims. There are many examples of fraud with one being a driver who tried to delete the driving convictions on his driving license.
You may be wondering why the honest motorist should be concerned? Well, if we were to tell you that it is estimated that these fraudulent motor insurance applications are putting an extra £50 on your annual motor insurance bill is that enough for you to be concerned? We are sure it is!
No doubt those committing these offences are doing so in the hope that they are able to get cheap car insurance. Many of these cases are being spotted either at the application stage or when they make a claim.
The motor insurance industry is no doubt keen to stamp this sort of thing out and have introduced such things as the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department and the Insurance Fraud Register. Another initiative is going to be introduced called MyLicense to deal with drivers that do not disclose motoring offences.
Let us hope that the motor insurance industry is able to continue to work closely together to combat this type of fraud that is costing honest motorists dearly.
What are your thoughts?