Travel insurance claims bonanza ending

While in the past millions of Britons have been lying and getting away with is on travel insurance forms, this free money bonanza is coming to an end.

No one likes to have baggage or goods lost stolen while on holiday, but many UK residents have been turning this misfortune into a fortune by overstating claims and making up missing items.

In fact, one in five Britons lies on travel insurance claims, with most getting away scot-free, new research has found.

Of the people who believe in dishonesty on their policy, one in eight increased the value of their claim and one in 20 added items to the list of lost and stolen goods.

The things Britons are most likely to lie about on travel insurance forms are cameras, followed by clothes and cash. But there are a growing number of false reports of lost and stolen iPods and MP3 players - while jewellery and designer sunglasses are misrepresented by one in ten claimants.

And Direct Line Travel Insurance, who commissioned the research, are taking these findings seriously.

"As a major insurer we deal with thousands of travel claims on a yearly basis, the majority of which are authentic," said Chris Price, from Direct Line Travel Insurance.

"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," he added.

Men were found to be more likely than women to lie on travel insurance forms, with 24 per cent more men saying that they have lied on forms than women.

Of those that do lie, one in four increases the value of their claim by more than £100, with one in 12 adding more than £400 to their claims.

As to why Britons are choosing to falsify insurance, one in seven claimed to need the money and one in eleven said friends talked them into it.

And despite the best efforts of insurers 88 per cent of the people that admitted to 'adjusting' their claim said their insurance company paid out.

However, this does not look set to continue, as insurance firms work ever harder to clamp down on insurance cheats.

"At Direct Line we're clamping down on fraud and are determined to keep premiums at a minimum so honest customers aren't penalised," said Mr Price.

Insurers uncovered fraud worth £3.5 million every week last year, this represented a 95 per cent increase on the fraud uncovered in 2002 as the industry took action against cheats.

"Protecting honest policyholders from the dishonest minority is a priority for the insurance industry," said Chris Hannant, the Association of British Insurers' head of financial crime prevention.