5.1 Introduction

Fraud on the part of an insured in the making of a claim under a policy of insurance is a problem which has long bedevilled the insurance industry. It has reached epidemic proportions, particularly in the consumer field, leading to the creation in 2012 of the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department and of the Association of British Insurers’ own fraud database in its Insurance Fraud Register. The Association of British Insurers reported that insurers uncovered over 118,500 fraudulent claims in 2013.3 The value of these claims was £1.3 billion; many more will, of course, have gone undetected.