Your Car Insurance Guide

Car insurance cheats made fraudulent claims worth £ 260 million last year, with the number of dishonest drivers to 70% in the past three years.

Insurers discovered 24,000 fraudulent claims for automobile insurance last year, worth a collective £ 260 million - or 5 million pounds a week. Unscrupulous claims made in 2007 include a policy aimed his car had been stolen when in fact he had pushed off a cliff.

Another claimant, a Land Rover driver deliberately crashed the vehicle in front of his house after an argument with his partner. Later he told the insurer that her foot had slipped off the break.

Nick Starling, director of general insurance in the Association of British Insurers, warned that the rise in fraudulent claims costing more honest drivers finish in premiums.

“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. Honest motorists pay through higher insurance premiums - an extra £ 40 a year on average.”

Those who try to cheat their insurers could also end up with a criminal record, like the Rolls Royce owner who claimed £ 10,000 for the alleged theft of the front grille, hubcaps, steering wheel, seats and the bonnet mascot. The police later found the items in your home, and received a criminal conviction.

Other policyholders who have tried to cheat their insurance - and stuck - include:

* A man who claimed that lent his car to friends, and they had been stolen and involved in a total loss of accidents. However, the investigation revealed that his friends had driven into a brick wall.

* A woman who was ordered to do 120 hours of community service after she hid his car in a barn and fraudulently claimed that it had been stolen.

* The driver said his car had been stolen and burned. However, a check of the database industry revealed the fraud he had done exactly the same claim in the same vehicle six years earlier.

Robbery
Meanwhile, new research found that people who drive a Ford Fiesta or the Volkswagen Golf, and live in London or the Midlands, are more likely to be a victim of a vehicle-related theft than anyone else in the country.

As expected, vehicle-related crime is more common during the winter months, and more than 50% of theft victims never see their belongings or car again.

People who drive a Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Golf are more likely to become a victim of theft, followed by those who drive a Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall Corsa or Nissan Micra.

After London and the Midlands, North West and Yorkshire are the most common car thieves.

In contrast, people living in Scotland and the borders are the least likely to have your vehicle or belongings stolen.

Robin Ream, director of claims swiftcover.com, which compiled the research, recommends that drivers keep their cars secure at all times.

“It’s amazing how many people leave their keys in the ignition, while de-frosting the car, or pop into the post office out of their car windows open,” he adds. “It’s just an open invitation to opportunistic thieves.”

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