Insurance Fraud

Insurance Fraud Defence Solicitors

When it comes to insurance fraud, punishments can be severe. For this reason, you must seek legal aid from the skilled insurance fraud lawyers at DPP Law as soon as you learn that you are likely to become the subject of fraud investigations.

Below we’ll explore the types of offences that most commonly affect the insurance industry, and explain how DPP Law can help you if you find yourself accused of insurance fraud.

What is Insurance Fraud?

Insurance fraud can simply be defined as any activity that involves knowingly and dishonestly manipulating the insurance process for personal (usually financial) gain.

It may include actions designed to prompt an undue insurance payout, or the conscious supplying of false information in order to obtain cover or pay lower insurance premiums.

Here are the insurance fraud cases that investigators most frequently come across:

What are the Most Common Types of Insurance Fraud?

Car Insurance Fraud

This type of offence may involve application fraud – filing incorrect paperwork in order to dishonestly obtain car insurance, or omitting information about criminal convictions, age, and one’s record as a driver.

Alternatively, it could mean exaggerating or even falsifying, damage or injury following a collision.

There’s also “crash for cash” – an infamous scamming technique where the perpetrator stages an accident in order to achieve an insurance payout.

There is also a range of other possible motor insurance fraud offences, including:

• The faking of accidents in paperwork
• “Fronting” (where a car is insured in a more experienced driver’s name but is intended for the use of a less experienced driver)
• Injury claims for passengers who weren’t involved in the collision in question
• Dumping – where vehicles are dumped and purposefully severely damaged or destroyed, with owners claiming to their car insurance companies that the vehicles were stolen

Life Insurance Fraud

Life insurance scams are among the most notorious fraud offences, with the most extreme kinds involving murder or attempted murder perpetrated by a named recipient of a policy in order to access the relevant payout.

However, application fraud is also rife in this area of insurance, as is forgery – whereby an unauthorised third party impersonates the holder of a policy in order to change its beneficiaries or ownership.

There are even instances of individuals faking their deaths so that beneficiaries can claim a payout.

On the other hand, fraudulent life insurance companies or “ghost brokers” may sell fake policies, steal and use or sell on the personal details of their “clients” for financial gain, or even mis-sell more expensive policies or fake “add-ons”.

Home Insurance Fraud

As with other types of insurance fraud, home insurance scams may involve the perpetrator “inflating” a claim to receive a larger payout than is necessary.

Alternatively, an individual may claim for “accidental” damages that they purposefully caused themselves.

Contractors and suppliers may also run home insurance scams, including overcharging a homeowner for a product or service in the hopes that the matter will not be pursued because the expense is being covered by insurance rather than by the individual.

In some cases, the product or service is not even delivered.

Commercial Insurance Fraud

Scams involving commercial insurance usually refer to false or inflated claims of employee or customer injury, damage to buildings, vehicles, goods, or materials, or other issues such as health violations.

Medical Insurance Fraud

An individual who commits medical insurance fraud usually does so by making false or exaggerated claims that a certain medical treatment was incorrectly delivered or “botched” in order to receive – or inflate – a payout.

In some cases, the person may fake an injury or condition that was supposedly caused by medical negligence in order to claim compensation.

Other types of insurance fraud we work with:

Numerous other insurance scams are dealt with by the IFB (Insurance Fraud Bureau) regularly. Many of these involve false or inflated claims, but they can also include brokerage scams and other offences:

• Art or antique insurance fraud
• Buildings insurance fraud
• Contents insurance fraud
• Dangerous sports insurance fraud
• Employment liability insurance fraud
• Equine insurance fraud
• Holiday insurance fraud
• Livestock insurance fraud
• Marine insurance fraud
• Motor insurance fraud
• Pet insurance fraud
• Public liability insurance fraud
• Retail and shop insurance fraud
• Shipping insurance fraud
• Stock insurance fraud
• Valuables insurance fraud

What is the maximum sentence for insurance fraud?

Custodial sentences for this type of fraudulent activity tend to lie between 6 months and four years. However, as with any type of fraud, aggravating factors may cause a sentence to be extended to as many as 10 years.

What should I do if I’ve been accused of insurance fraud?

Offences of this kind are taken very seriously by the UK authorities, which is why insurance fraud punishments can be so severe.

For this reason, it’s important to seek high-quality legal advice by instructing specialist solicitors like DPP Law as soon as you learn about any investigation into your activities.

Our experts can help you to gather evidence to present to investigators and will help to defend you against accusations of fraud.

We can accompany you to interviews at a police station, your place of work, or any other location, and we are also able to represent you in a court of law.

Alongside this, our solicitors advise individuals on:

• Criminal Defence
• Sexual Offences
• Benefit Fraud Defence
• Serious Driving Offences
• Military Law
• Family Law
• Personal Injury
• Road Traffic Accidents

Insurance Fraud: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is insurance fraud detected?

A: There are several “red flags” that may prompt an investigation into insurance fraud by authorities, including the withholding of certain personal information and a previous track record of false claims.

A lack of availability or willingness to respond to queries is also a telltale sign, as is an extensive knowledge of the insurance industry or threats of legal action as soon as questions are asked.

Investigators may even request that suspected fraudulent claimants undertake medical checks, and can even inspect CCTV footage and social media accounts to find evidence to support – or disprove – the information provided as part of a claim.

Q: Can you go to jail for insurance fraud?

A: Yes – a range of custodial sentences are possible depending on the perceived severity of the fraud that has been committed. Guilty parties may also be fined or received a community order or similar.

If you are concerned about upcoming action that may be taken against you involving fraud accusations or investigations, you should contact the insurance fraud solicitors at DPP Law as soon as possible.

We have a 24-hour arrest line that is in operation 7 days per week, 365 days a year – so you can get in touch with us straight away any time of the day or night.