UK insurers flagged fewer fake claims, but blocked $1.77 billion in bigger payouts

In 2025, U.K. insurers found fewer bogus claims than in 2024, but the cases they intercepted tended to involve more money.

According to The Independent, insurers stopped £1.34 billion (about $1.77 billion at current exchange rates) in fraud, and the typical fake claim came in at £14,300 ($18,868) — the Association of British Insurers' second-highest average on record.

Here's what to know

The ABI reported 93,900 detected fraudulent claims in 2025, down 2.7% from 2024, while the value of the claims that insurers blocked increased 14% from £1.18 billion (about $1.56 billion).

Motor insurance accounted for the largest share of detected fraud: 55% of cases, or 51,900 claims, with a total value of £625 million ($824 million).

For motor coverage, the typical fraudulent claim was roughly £12,000 ($15,830), making 2025 the second-highest year recorded on that measure since 2015.

One of the biggest jumps came in travel insurance. The Independent said insurers detected 4,500 travel fraud cases, an 85% increase, while the value attached to those claims rose 16% to £8.6 million ($11.3 million).

Among the scam types identified, exaggerated loss was still the most frequent, with 26,900 cases. Cases involving staged or contrived incidents also increased, rising 30% to about 5,600.

More background

Even with detected property insurance fraud down 6.2% to 17,700 cases, The Independent said the average fraudulent property claim reached a record £11,400 ($15,037). That suggests larger attempted payouts even in areas where fewer cases were flagged.

The ABI, as cited by The Independent, also said insurers prevented another £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) in fraudulent applications. In those cases, someone gives false information or leaves out key details before any claim is filed in order to secure cover or pay a lower premium.

ABI head of fraud and financial crime Mark Allen 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," he added.

What's being done?

The main response outlined in the figures is a coordinated effort among insurers, police, and anti-fraud groups. Allen said: "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."

Temporary detective chief inspector Simon Klust of the City of London Police, who heads the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said: "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."

He said collaboration between law enforcement and the insurance industry needs "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, said people with information can pass it on privately through the group's free CheatLine service, giving investigators another way to identify scams beyond what insurers catch on their own.

"Insurance fraud is devastating. It costs honest consumers when times are already tough," Jallow said.

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