Bogus Brits bump up holiday claims

Edited by the Insidemoneytalk editorial team Sep 10, 2007

Over three quarters of a million* British holidaymakers commit fraud by making false travel insurance claims

Research from Direct Line Travel Insurance reveals that many travellers exaggerate and falsify their 'holiday losses' with more than one in 10 (11 per cent)** admitting to increasing the value of their claim and five per cent to adding extra items.

13 per cent of Britons have made a travel insurance claim and 15 per cent admit they have stretched the truth.

A 'white lie' or exaggeration on an insurance claim is fraud, yet many fail to realize the severity of their actions.

To justify these claims and clear their conscience, two in 10 (18 per cent) say they are owed the money because they haven't claimed before.

Others substantiate their dishonesty by saying everyone else claims so why shouldn't they (10 per cent).

13 per cent refuse to take responsibility for their actions, blaming their partners instead.

Furthermore, this dishonest minority aren't doing things by halves either - 16 per cent are enhancing claims by £200 and six per cent by over ?500.

The Top False Claim Items:Jewellery (25%), Camera (23%), Cash (14%), Digital camera (12%), Clothes (12%), Mobile (10%), Video/DVD (7%), Ipod/MP3 (5%), Designer glasses (5%), Bag (5%), Worryingly the younger generation (18-29 year olds), are the worst offenders with 33 per cent admitting to telling white lies on claim forms compared to more than two in 10 (21 per cent) of 30 to 50's and seven per cent of over 50's.

Chris Price, Business Manager at Direct Line Travel Insurance: "As a leading insurer we deal with thousands of travel claims a year, the majority of which are genuine.

However, it's worrying to see from the results of the research that some consumers appear to underestimate the consequences of their actions.

The telling of a 'little white lie' is fraud however they chose to justify it.

"Contemplating committing fraud is a serious matter and we would urge anyone about to claim on their travel insurance not to take this lightly.

In order to protect the interests of our honest, genuine customers we do have systems and processes in place designed to detect these fraudsters." For more information, log on to www.directline.comtravel.