Holidaymakers inflate insurance claims

Thursday, 23 May, 2005 0

Around 20% of people make false claims on their holiday insurance and are most likely to state they have lost cameras and clothes, according to a new survey.

Direct Line commissioned research company YouGov to interview 2,000 people online and found 19 per cent who claimed on their insurance did so falsely.

Some 13% inflated the value of their claim while five per cent added
items to their list of stolen or lost goods.

Cameras were top of the list for dishonest claims, accounting for 27% of those items added to the number of supposedly missing goods. Cash and
clothes each accounted for 13%, while jewellery and ipods or MP3 players both made up 10% of false claims.

Nearly a quarter of holidaymakers who enhance a claim do so by more than £100, with eight per cent adding over £400.

Some 15% justify their claim by saying they need the money and nine per cent blamed friends for persuading them to lie. Public tolerance of bogus claims is high, with 22% of those making false declarations believing they are owed the money because they haven’t claimed before.

A spokesman for Direct Line said the results were worrying: “We would urge people to think twice about carrying out insurance fraud and we’re determined to clamp down on it.”

>The spokesman declined to say how many of its claims were fraudulent, but
>tell-tale signs include initial phone declarations being inconsistent with
>follow-up written accounts of missing items and false or altered receipts.
>
>
>Most insurance companies will cancel policies and refuse to pay out money if
>they find a claim to be false or exaggerated. In extreme circumstances, they
>make attempt to prosecute offenders.

Phil Davies

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