One in 10 Brits bumps up the home insurance claims by £600 (and it means the rest of us pay higher premiums)

By
David Baker

Last updated at 9:46 AM on 11th February 2012

One in 10 Britons add an average of £600 on to their exaggerated insurance claims meaning the rest of us pay higher premiums.

That is according to new research by insurance firm Axa which shows the fraudulent claims have surged amid the tough current economic climate.

Axa said the industry is seen as a ‘soft target’ for people who want to make extra cash, as households continue to face pressure from high living costs and deteriorating employment conditions.

Claims: Axa insurers have discovered that one in 10 Britons add on an average of £600 to their insurance claims

Claims: Axa insurers have discovered that one in 10 Britons add on an average of £600 to their insurance claims

But Steve Gaywood, head of fraud at Axa,
said it was not a victimless crime and means honest customers foot the bill, which can add as much as £13 to every home insurance policy.

He said ‘As an industry we are well aware that these things go on and we
are introducing measures all the time to try and reduce the amount of
fraud that occurs.

‘Ultimately, if consumers get caught out they run the risk of
having the whole claim turned down as well as facing problems getting
insurance in the future.

‘It
is not a victimless crime, honest customers end up footing the bill
through higher premiums as insurers pass on the additional costs of
inflated claims.’

The cost of jewellery is often bumped up when making fraudulent insurance claims

Those claiming insurance often exaggerate the value of their televisions when making insurance claims

Exaggerated: The cost of jewellery and televisions are among the most commonly exaggerated when it comes to insurance claims

The insurer carried out a study which found that nine per cent of people who said they had made a claim in the last five years had exaggerated it, typically adding an extra £607 on to their totals.

The figure is up from around seven per cent of people who said they had bumped up a claim when a similar study was carried out a year ago.

Exaggerated claims related to televisions, particularly before big sporting events, jewellery or cash which never existed, people stating they had designer goods stolen when they were actually fakes and people claiming they had a freezer filled with fine dining ingredients such as lobster and steak rather than the reality of fish fingers and peas.

Respondents had made claims to home insurers across the board, not just Axa, and the company estimated from its findings that 200,000 UK consumers made exaggerated home insurance claims last year.

Less than half of people surveyed consider an exaggerated claim to be dishonest and more than one in 10 people would be more likely to consider trying to bump up a claim than they were three years ago.

Axa also found that men are nearly twice as likely to have made an exaggerated claim than women.

Around 12 per cent of men who had made a claim at some point said they have stretched the truth, compared with around six per cent of women.

Its latest research also found that 43 per cent of 2,000 people surveyed believe that deliberately damaging an item to make a claim was not dishonest.

The study found 58 per cent of consumers feel it is not dishonest to neglect to mention previous claims and 56 per cent believe it is not dishonest to say windows and doors were shut or locked at the time of the theft when in fact they were not.

Nearly half of those surveyed also felt it was acceptable to submit a receipt belonging to someone else in order to make a claim.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

that is the rubbish the insurance companies feed the public

The people who do bump up their insurance claims – frequently get caught. This only ever has to happen once and – from that day forward – they are dead in the water – and it goes onto the national data-base – and gets shared amongst all the insurance companies nationwide. Then no firms will ever touch these again. Always remember – whenever you apply for insurance – that magic question you always get asked – “have you ever been refused insurance”? Fraud is always a simple one-off gain – it never works twice – and always leaves you with a huge problem for the rest of your life. It’s not smart – just stupid.

Mmmmm, I think the bigger villians here are the insurance companies, they try to wriggle out of paying a penny, and even if they do pay up they try and to pay as little as possible. As much as I hate dishonesty I feel that most people exaggerate their claims just to make sure their losses are actually covered, . How about an article on how much money the insurance companies make by getting out of paying legitimate claims?

Be very interesting to see a breakdown of who actually is claiming. Us honest people who live our lives sensibly are paying for the costs of those who are stupid or just plain criminal. Forv example, my wife and I have never smoked or drink alcohol higher taxes on alcohol which we use sensibly are forecast to be raised substantially. But criminal claimers must be caught and severely punished to put others off doing the same.

Hah what a joke, I deliberately kept a claim low so as to hopefully sort out a swift and prompt settlement with Groupama. I only claimed for the major items and not the multiple smaller items that were ruined. That was in September 2011 and I’m still waiting for a cheque even though they offered me an acceptable settlement figure over a month ago.
Bricks and Mortar policies are prudent but contents policies are utterly worthless.

I have no complaints with my insurers. Lost an old omega watch last year in the snow. Sent them a claim form and few pictures of it on my wrist and the nice company sent me a credit for £3200 Now wearing a lovely SuperOcean Breitling!

When I had a burglary, the insurance company assessors tried everything to reduce what was a legitimate claim and I had to fight for months to get the sum rightly due to me. It is traumatic enough to be burgled without the insurance industry trying every trick to avoid paying out. The solution to many claimants may simply be to assume your rightful claim will be reduced by the insurer therefor inflate your claim in the first place to end up with the amount due. Is this fraudulent or simply a negotiating ploy to match the insurers attempt to avoid paying ?

Are we surprised? The UK is rip off land. Call in a plumber or electrician and they will offer to not add VAT if you pay cash and don’t ask for a receipt. That means they are paying neither VAT nor Tax. So people ripping off insurance companies is par for the course.

I knew a woman who worked for AVIVA and she always paid out dozens of fake claims for herself and her family. And bragged about it too!

I was also burgled and I found the claiming process not stringent enough. I could easily inflate the price and they did not even ask for a receipt. However, honest as I am, I just told the truth. Then I found items missing after and could not claim again. I am 100% certain there are a lot of dishonest people out there bumping up their lost items’ worth and as the insurers do not ask for proof of purchase, the scam will perpetuate itself. It’s not nice to be burgled though and the police took a long time to turn up – they promised to turn up within an hour after 7pm and again after 8pm, only to wake me up at 11.22 pm with a phone call. I felt like I was being punished! After that, it was just be careful next time… could not catch the burglars…

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