Investigators report rise in false travel insurance claims
Insurance claims investigators are reporting a rise in holidaymakers lying about the circumstances of their claims to increase their chances of having them paid.
The Special Investigations Unit of claims and assistance providers CEGA said customers who have had their claims refused are then changing their stories in a bid to get the claim paid.
"In the last year we’ve seen a rise in the number of customers submitting alternative, fabricated evidence to back up a claim," says Simon Cook, CEGA’s head of technical claims.
"For example, we’ve seen missed flights blamed first on something not covered by a policy, such as poor timekeeping, and then on something that’s more likely to be covered, such as a puncture en-route to the airport.
"We’ve had cancelled holidays attributed first to passports not being renewed in time and then to illness. We’ve been told that bags have been stolen from the beach when policyholders left them to go swimming and then – once they realise that unwatched possessions aren’t covered – that the bags weren’t left unattended after all. The list goes on."
He said claimants often produce false evidence to back up their second attempts at claiming, including retrospective sick notes and breakdown reports.
"Some policyholders aren’t aware that lying about the circumstances of a claim is fraudulent and that the penalties can be severe," added Cook.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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