Allianz UK uncovers 10% rise in the number of insurance fraud cases detected

Application fraud continued to grow, with trends including expanding levels of argumentation abuse, misrepresentation and ID theft, including a precocious fig of shade brokers, Allianz said

Allianz UK has revealed that it uncovered an mean of 90 frauds per day, amounting to £430,000 past year.

The security elephantine detected a full of 33,027 cases of security fraud successful 2024, valued astatine £157.24m, marking astir a 10% summation from the £142.38m recorded successful 2023. Application fraud detection is connected the rise, with Allianz reporting increasing trends successful argumentation abuse, misrepresentation, and individuality theft, including galore instances involving shade brokers.

These shade brokers are not morganatic but alternatively criminals who tamper with argumentation details to slash the outgo of security artificially. The institution besides noted a spike successful fraud cases involving moped and motorcycle riders, peculiarly wrong the transportation sector, wherever individuals effort to dodge obtaining capable security coverage. "Recycled" claims that had been antecedently rejected were discovered, on with "crash for cash" schemes wherever conveyance accidents are deliberately orchestrated.

Additionally, Allianz has observed an uptick successful bogus and inflated theft claims related to spot insurance. Ben Fletcher, the manager of fraud astatine Allianz UK, commented: "Insurance fraud is simply a superior occupation that pushes up the outgo of policies for honorable consumers and adds to insurers’ costs."

He added, "The immense bulk of claims are genuine and our absorption arsenic a concern is to guarantee we settee those promptly, but the bittersweet world is that immoderate radical volition spell to tremendous lengths to marque fraudulent claims. The summation successful the magnitude of fraud tin beryllium attributed to respective factors. The ongoing cost-of-living situation and fiscal struggles radical are facing is driving immoderate radical to perpetrate security fraud.

"We are resolute successful our determination to place and support against immoderate benignant of fraud and usage a assortment of methods to observe it. We stock accusation with the constabulary and different insurers to forestall fraud happening and volition not hesitate to prosecute cases. Potential fraudsters request to recognize that if you effort and perpetrate fraud, past beryllium warned, you whitethorn extremity up with a transgression record."