Fraudster sentenced for making bogus household claims

A fraudster was recently charged with four counts of Fraud by False Representation and sentenced to a high-level community order of 12 months, and 150 hours of unpaid work including the repayment of court costs, following IFB’s joint investigation with City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) and several insurers. 

Evidence of fraudulent activity first came to light when Allianz received a theft claim, relating to several items allegedly stolen on a camping trip, including a mobile phone, smart watch, headphones, and a Nintendo Switch. Further enquiries found RSA received a similar claim from the same incident, but on a different date. It was also found that the same individual had attempted bogus claims with LV=, which once again included a Nintendo Switch.

When IFB looked at further cross-industry exposure it discovered that the individual had been intentionally misrepresenting themselves by failing to disclose to LV= and RSA that they had previous claims exposure of the same incidents which they later tried to claim for again. 

IFB referred its findings to IFED who formally opened a criminal investigation and in October 2022, a search warrant was carried out and several items were seized, including a mobile phone which was linked to multiple claims. IFED also took images of the Nintendo Switch linked to these claims. The fraudster was interviewed and admitted to not disclosing their full claims history when taking out policies with insurers and they were subsequently sentenced at Newport Magistrates Court in July 2023. 

Jon Radford, Head of Intelligence, Investigations and Data Services at IFB, said: 

“Those who think it’s acceptable to make multiple claims for the same incident and mispresent themselves to get away with it, can think again. We’re collaborating very closely with the insurance industry to find evidence of opportunistic fraud and the consequences are very serious. If anyone has evidence of insurance fraud, we urge them to report it to our confidential Cheatline online or via 0800 422 0421.”