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Motor insurer Aviva has warned clients to not misrepresent their private particulars to “save a number of kilos” on their insurance policies as cost-of-living pressures deepen.
The corporate — one of many largest motor underwriters within the nation, overlaying greater than 2mn non-public vehicles — stated 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.
Nearly all of these instances, it stated, concerned clients who modified particulars about themselves, their automotive or driving historical past to safe cheaper cowl. For instance, mendacity about their age, the quantity of penalty factors they maintain, or saying their automotive is stored in a storage in a single day when it’s not.
“Motorists ought to keep away from the temptation to vary their particulars in [an] try to save lots of a number of kilos, because the penalties for coverage fraud could be pricey and add strain to motor insurance coverage premiums for all motorists,” stated Aviva’s head of motor underwriting Iain Hamilton.
He added that the “overwhelming majority of our clients are trustworthy, and we’ve got an obligation to make it possible for we do all the pieces we are able to 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 automotive being seized, Aviva stated.
The insurer’s analysis suggests one in 4 individuals have been approached on-line by somebody providing low-cost automotive insurance coverage. And that one in 5 individuals would take into account 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 strain mounts on the price of residing, motor insurance coverage clients needs to be cautious of insurance coverage gives from unclear, unsolicited or uncommon sources — particularly on-line messaging platforms,” it stated.
Motor insurance coverage is the most typical sort of fraud throughout the non-public insurance coverage trade. The newest information counsel that financial pressures is likely to be resulting in larger ranges of buyer fraud, after a predicted rise throughout the Covid pandemic by no means got here to go. Total, instances of insurance coverage fraud fell in 2021.
The Monetary Conduct Authority has raised issues with insurers in regards to the influence that the price of residing disaster might have on insurance coverage patrons usually, together with that they may cut back or cancel their cowl. It July it stated companies ought to “take into account what additional help they’ll supply” to these battling premiums.
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