Motor insurance fraud 'on the rise'

Cases of motor insurance fraud have increase significantly in recent years, a spokesperson for Direct Line has revealed.

Emma Holyer said that there were organised fraud rings which took out multiple policies on one car that they then deliberately crashed, claiming personal injury costs.

Sometimes these rings crash into an associate's car and then fraudulently claim that the car had passengers in it, claiming for further personal injury costs, she added.

But it is not just fraud rings which are committing motor insurance fraud, she explained, with some normally law-abiding motorists becoming involved in crashes such as rear-end shunts and then fraudulently claiming for injuries like whiplash.

She said: "Fraud costs the insurance industry £400 million each [year] and this in turn is borne by motorists as part of the premium. On the opportunistic side doctors have become very switched on [to] false personal injury claims and will report any suspect claimants to the police."

Zurich Insurance recently announced it had set up additional motor claims investigation teams with the sole purpose of investigating the fraud.