In 2025 UK insurers uncovered £1.34 billion of fraudulent claims, a rise driven by an 85 % increase in fake travel insurance cases. Although the total number of detected frauds fell slightly, the average value of each scam climbed to £14,300 – the second‑highest figure on record – signalling that criminals are aiming for bigger payouts.
Travel fraud spikes
Travel insurance fraud showed the sharpest upward trend, with detected cases jumping 85 % to reach 4,500. The financial value of those claims grew at a slower pace, increasing 16 % to £8.6 million. This surge contributed heavily to the overall rise in intercepted fraud, even as other lines showed mixed movements.
Motor and property fraud trends
Motor insurance remained the biggest source of detected fraud, accounting for 55 % of all cases. Insurers identified 51,900 bogus motor claims worth £625 million, giving an average claim of roughly £12,000. Property insurance took a different path: the number of detected fraudulent claims fell 6.2 % to 17,700, yet the average value of each scam hit a record high of £11,400.
Across all categories, exaggerated loss remained the most common tactic, appearing in 26,900 cases. Contrived incident and loss fraud – where fraudsters stage events to support a claim – rose 30 % to about 5,600 incidents. Despite a 2.7 % drop in the total number of exposed fake claims to 93,900, the mean value per claim rose to £14,300, just shy of the £14,600 peak seen in 2022.
Industry and police response
Mark Allen, head of fraud and financial crime at the Association of British Insurers, warned that fraudsters are targeting larger sums as technology evolves. He said: “Although the rate of detected insurance fraud fell slightly last year, our data shows that fraudsters are targeting much bigger payouts. As emerging technologies such as AI become more widely available, fraudsters will continue to look for new ways to exploit them. Insurance fraud pushes up costs for everyone, making it more important than ever that as an industry, we continue to work together to detect, prevent and deter fraud across all lines. Anyone considering committing insurance fraud should be under no illusion – it’s a serious crime with serious consequences, including a criminal conviction and imprisonment.”
Temporary detective chief inspector Simon Klust of the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department echoed the concern, noting that more than 250 fraudulent claims are detected each day on average. He added: “Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime and those who commit it increase the cost of premiums for honest customers. These figures show that, on average, more than 250 fraudulent insurance claims are detected each day, and this is unfortunately likely to be just the tip of the iceberg. It is therefore important for collaboration across law enforcement and industry to further deepen to help with taking further steps to increase detection of insurance fraud, fight fraud and bring offenders to justice.”
Ursula Jallow, director at the Insurance Fraud Bureau, described the human toll: “Insurance fraud is devastating. It costs honest consumers when times are already tough.” She urged the public to act: “If anyone has information about insurance fraud, they can report it confidentially through our free CheatLine service.” The ABI also reported that insurers blocked fraudulent insurance applications worth £1.8 billion last year, a figure that underscores the scale of the challenge before policies even begin.
Why it Matters
These numbers reveal a shifting landscape where fraudsters are chasing fewer but far more lucrative scams, driving up the average cost of each deceitful claim and ultimately inflating premiums for law‑abiding policyholders. As travel fraud surges and organised schemes grow more sophisticated, the insurance sector, police and the public must stay vigilant; every undetected scam adds weight to the financial strain felt by households already coping with rising living costs.
