Figures released by the Association of British Insurers show the market detected £1.1bn worth of fraudulent claims in 2023, up by 4% on the previous year. In total, insurers detected 84,400 fraudulent claims with an average value of £13,000. Exaggerated loss was the most common type of fraud detected.

Mark Allen, assistant director, head of fraud and financial crime at the ABI, said: “Insurance is there to protect people and businesses should the worst happen. It's encouraging to see that the industry's efforts to detect and prevent people from abusing this are working, but there can be no let-up in pursuing insurance fraudsters.

"Fraud doesn’t just impact victims that fall foul of the scammers, it affects everyone that pays for an insurance policy – with bogus claims pushing up the cost of premiums for all.”