Clampdown on fake claims on insurance

TWO FROM GREATER MANCHESTER ARRESTED IN NATIONWIDE SWOOP

TWO people from Greater Manchester have been arrested as part of a nationwide investigation into suspected fake insurance claims.

A total of 22 people were targeted in an inquiry into alleged fraudulent injury, household or property claims.

The attempted claims made by the suspects amounted to £165,000.

A woman from Stockport and a man from Salford were arrested. They denied the allegation and have been released under investigation.

A man, who claimed he’d suffered an injury at a shop but was recorded on CCTV deliberately falling to the floor and pulling boxes on top of himself, was amongst those targeted by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) in a national operation aimed at ‘opportunistic’ claimants.

So far 15 people have been interviewed at police stations across England and Wales, with each person suspected of submitting fraudulent insurance claims in an effort to get compensation.

Eight have been cautioned, and the remaining people have been released under investigation. In total, the attempted claims made by these people against the insurance industry is £165,110.

The operation focused on suspected fraudsters who have allegedly made false personal injury claims, such as ‘slip and trip,’ and fraudulent household or property claims, by exaggerating the value of items lost or stolen.

In one of the cases, a woman admitted to lying about being in a taxi when it was involved in a collision.

The taxi driver contradicted her claim and said she wasn’t in the vehicle at the time but was actually waiting for the taxi.

IFED detectives also interviewed a woman who made a false claim worth £6,500 for a gold diamond ring, after she claimed it had been lost or stolen when she took it off to clean her hands in a public toilet.

However, routine enquiries made by the insurer revealed she’d made the same claim, for the same ring, three years earlier.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fyfe, head of the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said: “‘We want to clamp down on this type fraud and hammer home to fraudsters that IFED and the insurance industry won’t tolerate it.”

Anyone who knows or has suspicions of someone committing insurance fraud can report it to 0300 123 2040.