Fraudulent insurance claims reached record levels in 2008, with dishonest claims totalling £14m exposed each week, the Association of British Insurers has revealed.

ABI figures for 2008 released today (16 April) record 107,200 fraudulent insurance claims – more than 2,000 claims a week. The figures represent a rise of 17% on 2007. The claims were valued at £730m, up by 30% on the previous year.

Home insurance fraud was the most common offence, with 55,000 false or exaggerated claims detected. One example of these included a woman who claimed for damage to her carpet when a coal fire exploded. She was unable to explain how the carpet under the sofa she was sitting on got burned when the explosion occurred, bearing in mind she and the sofa remained unharmed.

Almost half the value of 2008's false claims was in claims against motor insurance policies, including people exaggerating their injuries following road traffic accidents. In one case, a woman whose husband had just left her reported him for overstating the injuries he had sustained in a car accident – forcing him to forfeit the £385,000 compensation that the insurance company had paid out.

ABI director of general insurance and health Nick Starling said fraud always rises in a recession, but warned that cheating does not pay. ‘You will get caught, future insurance will be more expensive and, along with credit, harder to obtain,’ he said. ‘The only thing you are likely to gain is a criminal record.’