Motor insurer Aviva has warned clients to not misrepresent their private particulars to “save a couple of kilos” on their insurance policies as cost-of-living pressures deepen.
The corporate — one of many largest motor underwriters within the nation, protecting greater than 2mn non-public vehicles — mentioned instances of fraudulent or suspect coverage purposes had risen by 16 per cent year-on-year between January and October, to greater than 23,300.
The vast majority of these instances, it mentioned, concerned clients who modified particulars about themselves, their automobile or driving historical past to safe cheaper cowl. For instance, mendacity about their age, the quantity of penalty factors they maintain, or saying their automobile is saved in a storage in a single day when it isn’t.
“Motorists ought to keep away from the temptation to alter their particulars in [an] try to avoid wasting a couple of kilos, because the penalties for coverage fraud could be expensive and add stress to motor insurance coverage premiums for all motorists,” mentioned Aviva’s head of motor underwriting Iain Hamilton.
He added that the “overwhelming majority of our clients are sincere, and now we have an obligation to ensure that we do every part we will to minimise the influence of fraud on their motor insurance coverage premiums”.
Round 15 per cent of coverage fraud detected by the corporate got here by way of so-called ghost brokers, the place an unauthorised particular person acts as an middleman between the shopper and the insurer and provides deceptive info. Utilizing such a dealer might result in a set penalty or a automobile being seized, Aviva mentioned.
The insurer’s analysis suggests one in 4 individuals have been approached on-line by somebody providing low cost automobile insurance coverage. And that one in 5 individuals would contemplate shopping for low cost insurance coverage from a person on social media, even when that they had doubts about whether or not the particular person was a real dealer.
“As stress mounts on the price of dwelling, motor insurance coverage clients needs to be cautious of insurance coverage gives from unclear, unsolicited or uncommon sources — particularly on-line messaging platforms,” it mentioned.
Motor insurance coverage is the most typical sort of fraud throughout the private insurance coverage trade. The newest knowledge counsel that financial pressures is likely to be resulting in increased ranges of buyer fraud, after a predicted rise throughout the Covid pandemic by no means got here to move. Total, instances of insurance coverage fraud fell in 2021.
The Monetary Conduct Authority has raised considerations with insurers in regards to the influence that the price of dwelling disaster might have on insurance coverage patrons generally, together with that they could cut back or cancel their cowl. It July it mentioned corporations ought to “contemplate what additional help they’ll supply” to these fighting premiums.
