ABI: insurers detected £1.34bn of fraudulent claims in 2025, average claim £14,300
The Association of British Insurers says detected insurance fraud was worth £1.34bn in 2025, up 14%, while case numbers fell 2.7% to 93,900. The average fraudulent claim reached £14,300, the second-highest on record.
1 / 2
The story, neutrally told
Centre · 2Insurers detected £1.34 billion worth of fraudulent claims in 2025, a 14% rise on the £1.18 billion detected the previous year, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Evening StandardN “Insurers detected £1.34 billion worth of fraudulent claims in 2025” Read at Evening Standard ↗ BBC NewsN “There was £1.34bn worth of fraudulent claims in 2025, a 14% increase on the £1.18bn detected the previous year.” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 2The number of detected fraudulent claims fell slightly to 93,900, down 2.7% on 2024, but the average value of a fraudulent claim reached £14,300, the second-highest level on the ABI's records and just below a peak of £14,600 in 2022. Evening StandardN “The average value of a fraudulent claim reached £14,300 last year – the second-highest level on the ABI’s records and just below a peak of £14,600 recorded in 2022.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ BBC NewsN “the number of detected fraudulent claims fell slightly to 93,900, down 2.7% on 2024.” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 2Motor insurance accounted for 55% of detected fraud cases, with 51,900 fraudulent motor claims worth £625 million and an average of around £12,000 per claim. Evening StandardN “with 51,900 fraudulent motor claims worth £625 million uncovered.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ BBC NewsN “motor insurance remained the area where insurers identified the most fraudulent cases, accounting for 55% of all scam claims.” Read at BBC News ↗
Centre · 1Detected property claims fell 6.2% to 17,700 but their average value rose to a record £11,400, while detected travel insurance fraud jumped 85% to 4,500 cases, worth £8.6 million (up 16%). Evening StandardN “The number of detected property insurance claims fell by 6.2% annually to 17,700, but the average value of a fraudulent claim increased to a record high of £11,400.”“increasing by 16% to reach £8.6 million.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ Centre · 2Exaggerated loss remained the most common type of fraud, with 26,900 cases, while contrived incident and loss fraud, where incidents are staged, rose 30% to around 5,600 cases. Evening StandardN “Contrived incident and loss fraud saw a significant increase, rising by 30% to around 5,600 cases.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ BBC NewsN “exaggerated loss remains the most common type of insurance fraud, with 26,900 cases identified.” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 1The ABI also said insurers prevented fraudulent insurance applications worth £1.8 billion last year. Evening StandardN “The ABI also said insurers prevented fraudulent insurance applications worth £1.8 billion last year.” Read at Evening Standard ↗
Centre · 2Mark Allen, the ABI's head of fraud and financial crime, said fraudsters are targeting much bigger payouts and will keep looking for ways to exploit emerging technologies such as AI. Evening StandardN “our data shows that fraudsters are targeting much bigger payouts.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ BBC NewsN “fraudsters will continue to look for new ways to exploit them.” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 2Temporary detective chief inspector Simon Klust of the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) said more than 250 fraudulent claims are detected each day and this is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg. Evening StandardN “more than 250 fraudulent insurance claims are detected each day” Read at Evening Standard ↗ BBC NewsN “unfortunately likely to be just the tip of the iceberg” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 1The ABI highlighted high-profile cases, including a person jailed for 28 months for false home insurance claims over supposedly stolen Lego, who was also ordered to repay the £14,000 claimed. BBC NewsN “The person was sentenced to 28 months in prison after an investigation found the claims were made up”“he was also ordered to repay the £14,000 he had claimed.” Read at BBC News ↗
Centre · 1Other cases flagged were a man jailed for 20 months for manipulating women met on dating sites into staged car crashes, and a man sentenced to four and a half years for over £300,000 of fraudulent travel medical emergency claims. BBC NewsN “a man jailed for 20 months for manipulating women he met on dating sites into participating in staged car crashes” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 1Ursula Jallow of the Insurance Fraud Bureau said insurance fraud costs honest consumers when times are already tough, and urged anyone with information to report it via its CheatLine. Evening StandardN ““Insurance fraud is devastating. It costs honest consumers when times are already tough.”” Read at Evening Standard ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets relay the ABI's annual figures. The Evening Standard leads on the data and the shift to bigger payouts; BBC News leads on the Lego fraud case as a human-interest hook before the statistics.
- Emphasis
- Standard: detailed breakdown by motor, property and travel, plus quotes from the ABI, IFED and IFB. BBC: named case studies and sentences.
- Leaves out or plays down
- BBC omits the property and travel breakdowns, the £1.8bn prevented application fraud and the IFB comment; the Standard omits the individual case studies.
- Charged language
- “bogus claim”“scammers”“fraudsters”
- For example
-
“Insurance fraudsters ‘eyeing bigger payouts with average bogus claim at £14,300’” — Evening Standard
“Lego fraudster among last year's most high-profile insurance scammers” — BBC News
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Detected fraudulent claims were worth £1.34bn in 2025, up 14% from £1.18bn.
- The number of detected fraudulent claims fell to 93,900, down 2.7%.
- The average fraudulent claim was £14,300, second-highest on record.
- Motor insurance made up 55% of detected fraud; exaggerated loss was the most common type with 26,900 cases.
Association of British Insurers organisation
The ABI says detected fraud is shifting to bigger payouts, warns of AI-enabled fraud, and urges industry cooperation and stresses fraud is a serious crime.
“Insurance fraud pushes up costs for everyone” — Evening Standard
“our data shows that fraudsters are targeting much bigger payouts.” — BBC News
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre2 articles
-
Insurance fraudsters ‘eyeing bigger payouts with average bogus claim at £14,300’
Neutral Data-led report of the ABI figures with quotes from industry and police, headlined on bigger payouts.
-
Lego fraudster among last year's most high-profile insurance scammers
Neutral Opens with a notable Lego fraud case, then summarises the ABI's headline figures.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 6 Oct 08:00 First Evening StandardN Insurance fraudsters ‘eyeing bigger payouts with average bogus claim at £14,300’
- 6 Oct 08:03 +4m BBC NewsN Lego fraudster among last year's most high-profile insurance scammers
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.