Insurance fraud 'is not a victimless crime'
Posted on May 30th 2008
Insurance companies need to make people more aware of insurance fraud and the impact it has on premiums, it has been claimed.
According to David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, many people see fraud as a "victimless" crime when in fact it's not - and insurance companies need to remind consumers of this from time to time.
"When people submit fraudulent claims they are doing themselves out of money because next year everybody in the area will have to pay that little bit more to cover for last year's claims," Mr Kuo commented.
"People think it is a victimless crime because nobody is hurt; they're just simply taking money out of the insurance company. But in actual fact it is not a victimless crime because you are the victim yourself as you will have to pay higher premiums next year."
Research conducted by the Insurance Fraud Bureau shows that the industry as a whole loses £1.5 billion every year to fraud.