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After the bubble burst in the Irish economy and after a succession of harsh budgets people have been forced into adjusting their sometimes lavish lifestyles. We have all had to cut back a little. Actually, there are still a number of people who refuse to quit their lavish way of life and will turn to crime to supplement their living. Insurance fraud is an area they tend to get caught up in. People see the rich bankers being let off the hook with golden parachute deals after messing up the country and they want their slice of the cake.

Most people think that it is only the poorer people in society that get up in insurance fraud. While this is often true there are large numbers of well off families embroiled in these illegal activities too. They wish to maintain a standard of living that they can no longer afford and in order not to ‘lose face’ with the neighbours they turn to insurance fraud to sort out their finance problems.

The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF), the representative body for insurance companies in Ireland, is continuing its effort against insurance fraud. Michael Horan, Non-Life Manager in the IIF believes “there is definitely an increase in claims in the recession”. The number of calls to Insurance Confidential, a hotline run by the IIF where people can anonymously report suspected cases of insurance fraud, had more than doubled in 2009. There were almost 700 new cases of suspected insurance fraud reported to the Insurance Confidential hotline in 2009 – up from approximately 300 in 2008. And as the recession continues, the risk of fraud will increase.

The Irish Insurance Federation put a strong focus on detecting and preventing fraud over 10 years ago. Part of this plan of action involved the creation of a database of high risk claimants. Their details were stored on a database which could be checked by insurance companies. Nick Starling of the ABI says ‘Whether claiming against a third party for bogus personal injury or on their own insurance, fraudsters are more likely than ever to get caught, leading to more expensive and harder-to-obtain insurance and credit and the possibility of a criminal record’.

With the introduction of the most draconian budget in years, more people are likely to find themselves in precarious financial situations. It remains to be seen whether the steps currently being taken to tackle insurance fraud will be enough to deter people from seeing it as an easy way out.

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