Tourists become fraudsters

TOURISTS BECOME FRAUDSTERS

Article date: 14/04/2005 : 12:03:29

Dishonest travel insurance claims are rife among British tourists according to new research.

The data from insurance provider Direct Line shows that 19 per cent of those who made travel insurance claims in the last three months misled their provider. Of these 13 per cent increased the value of their claims and five per cent added extra items.

Of those who enhanced their claims, 24 per cent did so by more than £100 and eight per cent boosted their payouts by over £400.

It seemed that the fraudsters believed they had good grounds though. More than a tenth said that they needed the money and nine per cent said that they only lied because their friends persuaded them to do so.

Unsurprisingly Chris Price of Direct Line Travel Insurance wants to stamp out the practice: "As a major insurer we deal with thousands of travel claims on a yearly basis, the majority of which are authentic. However the results of our research are disturbing and it's worrying to see how many dishonest claims are made.

"We would urge people to think twice before carrying out insurance fraud though as it ultimately affects the price all policyholders pay for their travel insurance," added Mr Price.

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