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Insurance fraudsters ‘eyeing bigger payouts with average bogus claim at £14,300’

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Cite

Shaw, V. (2026, October 6). Insurance fraudsters ‘eyeing bigger payouts with average bogus claim at £14,300’. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/money/insurers-city-of-london-police-b1299666.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-06 · by Vicky Shaw

Quick Summary

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 by AI on 2026-10-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

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 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Insurance Fraud Claims Growing
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 38% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
Hedges 14 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses overall trends in insurance fraud with statistics and no mention of a specific case involving Lego sets. Article B focuses on a particular high-profile case of an individual named Matthew Johnson who committed insurance fraud involving stolen Lego sets, fishing gear, and gaming consoles.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
38%
9 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8256 article(s) · 73 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 73 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Vicky Shaw
65 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The ABI said that homeowners concerned about subsidence should be aware of several warning signs, and may need to consider speaking to their insurer and seeking professional advice if they notice: – Cracks that are wider than 3mm – about the thickness of a £1 coin – as these may need further investigation. – Diagonal cracks, particularly if they are wider at the top than at the bottom. – Cracks that appear suddenly, rather than developing gradually through normal wear and tear.
🔮 The move was welcomed by many savings and investments providers – although some raised concerns that plans for a new “starter Isa” could add more complexities to the Isa system.
🔮 Here is a look at what will be available under the plans: – What is the Your First Home scheme? The scheme will provide 20% equity loans to first-time buyers.
🔮 The move was welcomed by many savings and investments providers – although some raised concerns that plans for a new “starter Isa” could add more complexities to the Isa system.
🔮 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that understanding geographical patterns could help identify where climate-related risks may have the greatest effect on consumers and mortgage lending if flooding becomes more frequent or severe.
🔮 The Government recently unveiled the Your First Home initiative, which will give first-time buyers the chance to buy a new build property with a 2.5% deposit, with the Government stepping in to lend them an extra 20% towards the cost.
🔮 Read More He added: “Those coming to the end of a current fixed (mortgage) deal will not only face higher rates but also a more volatile market where deals can come and go quickly.”
🔮 This would put someone on the full new state pension on course to receive £250.70 per week from next April – up from £241.30 per week currently.
🔮 Matt Smith, a mortgage expert at Rightmove, said: “It’s been a difficult few weeks for home buyers who have been watching mortgage rates rise quickly, particularly for those who had worked out what they could afford based on lower rates earlier in the year. “
🔮 Matt Smith, a mortgage expert at Rightmove, said: “It’s been a difficult few weeks for home buyers who have been watching mortgage rates rise quickly, particularly for those who had worked out what they could afford based on lower rates earlier in the year. “
Also by Vicky Shaw
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 65 articles by Vicky Shaw →

Topics

ABI the City of London Police the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department

Subjects

ABI ORG · 5× IFB ORG · 1× Mark Allen PERSON · 1× Simon Klust PERSON · 1× Ursula Jallow PERSON · 1× the City of London Police ORG · 1× the Insurance Fraud Bureau ORG · 1× the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department ORG · 1×

Narrative

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.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-06
🔮 “As emerging technologies such as AI become more widely available, fraudsters will continue to look for new ways to exploit them.

Claims (24 extracted, 9 hedged)

The overall value of bogus insurance claims detected marked a 14% increase on £1.18 billion claims recorded the previous year. uncertain
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. uncertain
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. uncertain
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. uncertain
claims → account → cases
The average value per detected motor fraud claim was around £12,000. uncertain
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. uncertain
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. uncertain
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
ABI → look → fraud
Contrived incident and loss fraud saw a significant increase, rising by 30% to around 5,600 cases. asserted
fraud → see → cases
These scams involve fraudsters deliberately creating or staging incidents, losses or circumstances in order to make a claim. uncertain
fraudsters → involve → claim
The ABI also said insurers prevented fraudulent insurance applications worth £1.8 billion last year. asserted
insurers → say → applications
Application fraud occurs when information is deliberately misrepresented or withheld in order to obtain insurance cover or reduce premiums. asserted
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. asserted
fraudsters → say → payouts
“As emerging technologies such as AI become more widely available, fraudsters will continue to look for new ways to exploit them. asserted
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. asserted
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.” asserted
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. asserted
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. uncertain
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.” asserted
collaboration → deepen → justice
Ursula Jallow, director at the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), said: “Insurance fraud is devastating. asserted
fraud → say → Bureau
It costs honest consumers when times are already tough. asserted
times → cost → consumers
She added: “If anyone has information about insurance fraud, they can report it confidentially through our free CheatLine service.” asserted
they → add → service
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