Police chiefs have blamed an apparent spike in opportunistic motor fraud on people seeking a quick fix to the cost of living crisis. City of London Police’s insurance fraud department said reported cases of opportunistic fraud were up by 61% in the year to April. Motor insurance was the most common type of opportunistic fraud referred to the police, accounting for 51% of cases.

Investigators did not specify whether fraud overall has increased, nor whether convictions have gone up as opposed to reports of fraud, which are generally made by the insurance companies.

It is also unclear how fraud has spiked in the first full year since the whiplash reforms, which were designed to prevent fraud and included a new requirement that everyone making a personal injury claim following a motor accident must have a medical examination.

The police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) said otherwise law-abiding citizens are turning to insurance fraud as a way to ease financial hardships. The unit yesterday launched a national awareness campaign highlighting examples of opportunistic fraud and the consequences for those getting caught.

Earlier this year, officers from IFED investigated 18 claims from individuals worth a total of almost £217,000, with addresses in Newbury, Peterborough and Portsmouth searched. A 54-year-old woman from Dunstable was charged with fraud by false representation after officers suspected that she submitted a personal injury claim that falsely stated she was in her car when her neighbour’s vehicle crashed into it.

Jon Radford, head of intelligence, investigations and data services at the Insurance Fraud Bureau, said: ‘When someone is added to our Insurance Fraud Register, they can have their access to essential insurance services denied for five years and this has devastating consequences - from being unable to insure and drive a car, to being refused buildings insurance and ultimately access to a mortgage.’

 

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