Having the right insurance makes life possible. Whether it is owning your own home, running a business or driving a car. Insurance helps you manage risk and protects you from financial loss. But the insurance market is being abused by a small minority intent on defrauding the system costing the UK economy more than a billion pounds every year. That’s why we’re committed to managing fraud risks and protecting you from suffering any financial losses.
What is insurance fraud?
Fraud remains the most commonly experienced crime in the UK and is known to fund other serious crime. It can be committed by anyone, and through various methods of deception.
The Fraud Act 2006 defines fraud as a crime. It’s considered to have taken place when a person intends to make a gain or cause a loss to another by dishonestly:
- making a false or misleading representation
- failing to disclose, or deliberately concealing information they had a duty to disclose
- abusing a position in which they're expected to safeguard the financial interests of another person.
The main reason people commit insurance fraud is to gain financially. Whether it’s exaggerating or falsifying a claim, or providing false or inaccurate information when taking a policy out. This behaviour drives the cost of insurance up and can have serious consequences. Your claim could be refused, your policy void, or you’re put on the Insurance Fraud Register (IFR) which would affect your ability to get insurance in the future. Or even, civil or criminal sanctions resulting in fines or custodial sentencing.
Contacted by a fraudster or fallen victim to a scam?
Report this to us right away and we’ll take it from here and let you know what to do to stay safe.
Fraudulent scams
Keeping your money safe and secure is as important to us as it is to you. The huge increase in online activity has resulted in fraudsters exploiting the way we invest money, shop, take out pensions and even the way we use online dating websites.
Fraudulent scams often target the elderly and vulnerable, but in recent years the NCA (National Crime Agency) reported a significant growth in fraud being driven by online adverts and social media targeting the ‘COVID Generation’.
Impersonation scams almost doubled to 39,364 cases in the UK in 2020 with losses reported at £78 million (on average £45,242 a scam).
Romance scams
Romance scams increased by 38% since the pandemic, driven by the rise in online dating during.
Fraudulent payments
Fraudulent payments via Authorised Push Payment (APP)1 increased by 22% to almost 150,000 cases in 2020. A loss of £479 million, up 5% on the previous year.
Social media
Over 1600 social media accounts were taken down due to links to fraudulent activity such as adverts for ‘Money Mules’ and selling stolen card details.
Capturing fraudsters
Since the pandemic over 150 arrests, and over 2,000 websites, phone numbers and email addresses linked to fraudulent activities have been taken down by dedicated national police units.
1 Where customers are tricked into authorising a payment to another account controlled by a criminal.
There are no guaranteed get-rich-quick schemes. If an offer appears too good to be true, it probably is. Remember that any unexpected contact saying you need to take urgent action on an account, make a payment, download software, provide pin numbers or provide remote access is likely to be a scam.
Investment scams
Investment scams using the AXA brand have defrauded over £1.1million from victims since January 2020.
How do I report fraud?
If you find that you have been a victim of fraud we’re here to help:
- To discuss an incident or scam relating to AXA Investments, call AXA IM on 0207 003 1000 and ask for the Financial Crime Team. Or email LONFinancialCrimeTeam@axa-im.com.
- To discuss insurance fraud, call us on 0345 900 4171 or email the following information to fraud@axa.co.uk:
- Your name
- Whether your report relates to an AXA policy or an AXA claim
- The product your query relates to (personal motor insurance, commercial motor insurance, liability insurance, household insurance, commercial property and motor trade insurance, or travel insurance)
- Your policy of claim reference
- Your contact number
- Any further information that might help us with your query
Protect yourself
Take a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information.
Could it be fake? It’s OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
Contact the company directly if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud.
Some simple steps you can take to protect yourself and keep your personal data safe:
- Protect your information
Do not send personal / confidential information via email, on the phone or over the internet unless you know the recipient and know the process is protected through encryption. Do not leave passwords written down or easily accessible on your computer. - Secure your networks and protect your devices
Download trusted online security software to protect you, especially when banking online. Do not allow third parties remote access to your devices. - Who sent that email
Delete all suspicious emails without opening them and be particularly careful when opening attachments to emails. - Contact and verify
Confirm the company’s address and telephone number. Check the company’s website or through local regulatory authorities. Call the provider back using a publicly published phone number and ask them to validate what you are being told. - Throw away safely
Shred old statements, receipts, letters and similar documents containing personal information which are no longer required. Lock financial documents and records in a safe place at home. - Think twice about sharing bank details or transferring money
Never set up new or change existing payment details without verifying the request directly with the person or company you are paying. Never transfer money out of your account if asked to do so for ‘security reasons’. And do not send money to someone you talk to online no matter how urgent it appears or how well you think you know them, there’s a chance it could be fraud. - Never engage in correspondence with someone unknown who notifies you that you’ve come into some money.
This list is not exhaustive. We encourage anyone who receives any communication (telephone/email/mail) in relation to any fraudulent scheme to report them directly to the FCA and Action Fraud using the links below: