Insurance fraudsters are making larger claims, with the average bogus claim reaching £14,300 last year, marking a 14% increase from the previous year's total of £1.18 billion. Despite this rise in value, the number of detected fraudulent claims decreased slightly to 93,900 cases. Motor insurance fraud accounted for 55% of all detected cases, with an average claim value of around £12,000, while property insurance saw a significant increase in the average value per claim to £11,400, despite a drop in the number of claims.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Simon Klust, head of the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) at the City of London Police, warned that insurance fraud is not a victimless crime and increases costs for honest customers. In 2025, the total value of detected fraudulent insurance claims rose by 14% to £1.36 billion from £1.18 billion in the previous year. Although the number of detected cases dropped slightly to 93,900 (a decrease of 2.7%), the average value per claim reached a significant £14,300, second only to the peak of £14,600 seen in 2022. Motor insurance fraud accounted for about half of all cases, with 51,900 claims valued at £625 million being detected last year, each averaging around £12,000. Property insurance saw a decline in the number of fraudulent claims by 6.2% to 17,700 but an increase in average value per claim to a record high of £11,400, while travel insurance fraud cases surged by 85% to 4,500, with values increasing by 16% to reach £8.6 million.
Written for “Insurance Fraud Claims Growing” on 2026-10-06,
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The overall value of bogus insurance claims detected marked a 14% increase on £1.18 billion claims recorded the previous year.
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value → detect → claims
Despite a rise in value, the number of detected fraudulent claims fell slightly to 93,900 cases, down by 2.7% compared with 2024.
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number → detect → 2024
The average value of a fraudulent claim reached £14,300 last year – the second-highest level on the ABI’s records and just below a peak of £14,600 recorded in 2022.
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value → reach → 2022
Motor insurance accounted for the bulk (55%) of detected fraud cases last year, with 51,900 fraudulent motor claims worth £625 million uncovered.
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claims → account → cases
The average value per detected motor fraud claim was around £12,000.
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value → detect → claim
The ABI has collected fraud data since 2004, and the average value per detected motor fraud claim in 2025 was the second highest figure it has recorded since 2015.
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it → collect → 2015
The number of detected property insurance claims fell by 6.2% annually to 17,700, but the average value of a fraudulent claim increased to a record high of £11,400.
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value → detect → 11,400
Travel insurance fraud recorded a particularly sharp annual increase in volume, with an 85% jump in detected cases, reaching 4,500.
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fraud → record → 4,500
The value of these cases increased at a slower rate than the volume, increasing by 16% to reach £8.6 million.
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value → increase → million
When looking at the types of fraud scammers attempted to commit, exaggerated loss remains the most common, with 26,900 cases identified, the ABI said.
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ABI → look → fraud
Contrived incident and loss fraud saw a significant increase, rising by 30% to around 5,600 cases.
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fraud → see → cases
These scams involve fraudsters deliberately creating or staging incidents, losses or circumstances in order to make a claim.
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fraudsters → involve → claim
The ABI also said insurers prevented fraudulent insurance applications worth £1.8 billion last year.
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insurers → say → applications
Application fraud occurs when information is deliberately misrepresented or withheld in order to obtain insurance cover or reduce premiums.
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information → occur → premiums
Mark Allen, head of fraud and financial crime at the ABI, said: “Although the rate of detected insurance fraud fell slightly last year, our data shows that fraudsters are targeting much bigger payouts.
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fraudsters → say → payouts
“As emerging technologies such as AI become more widely available, fraudsters will continue to look for new ways to exploit them.
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fraudsters → emerge → them
“Insurance fraud pushes up costs for everyone, making it more important than ever that as an industry, we continue to work together to detect, prevent and deter fraud across all lines.
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we → push → lines
“Anyone considering committing insurance fraud should be under no illusion – it’s a serious crime with serious consequences, including a criminal conviction and imprisonment.”
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it → consider → conviction
Temporary detective chief inspector Simon Klust, head of the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) at the City of London Police, said: “Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime and those who commit it increase the cost of premiums for honest customers.
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who → say → customers
“These figures show that, on average, more than 250 fraudulent insurance claims are detected each day, and this is unfortunately likely to be just the tip of the iceberg.
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this → show → iceberg
“It is therefore important for collaboration across law enforcement and industry to further deepen to help with taking further steps to increase detection of insurance fraud, fight fraud and bring offenders to justice.”
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collaboration → deepen → justice
Ursula Jallow, director at the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), said: “Insurance fraud is devastating.
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fraud → say → Bureau
It costs honest consumers when times are already tough.
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times → cost → consumers
She added: “If anyone has information about insurance fraud, they can report it confidentially through our free CheatLine service.”
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they → add → service
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