The Irish Insurance Federation recently re-launched their ongoing anti-fraud campaign and have received a surge in calls from the public in the first week of the campaign.
Insurance Confidential, the hotline run by IIF, has received 3,610 calls in the five years since it was established and is calling on the public to continue to report suspect claims. "When we run the anti-fraud campaigns, we get a surge in calls from the public. In the first week of the campaign we saw a 40 per cent increase in cases reported, which indicates that there is still widespread concern among consumers," said Mike Kemp, Chief Executive, IIF. "People are more aware than ever that insurance fraud means their wallet gets hit and reporting suspect claims is one way of preventing that."
A statistical breakdown of costs showed that the majority of cases related to motor injury, with 1,752 reports made which accounted for almost 50 per cent of the total.
The highest rate of reporting fraudulent claims came from Dublin, where 950 cases were reported. Another 948 were reported from the rest of Leinster and 809 from Munster.
Cases from Connacht accounted for 386, followed by Ulster with 131.
Some of the fraudulent cases that have been exposed in recent months include exaggerated injuries, policyholders holding multiple policies insuring the same items, and staged burglaries.
The campaign was launched earlier this month and consists of an outdoor poster campaign, radio and press advertising focusing on the criminal aspect of fraud. Some typical fraudulent activities that have been identified through Insurance Confidential or otherwise include false reporting, exaggerated injuries, staged burglary, non-disclosure and fake invoicing.
