Woman who made fake travel insurance claim worth £3k+ sentenced

A woman has been sentenced for attempting to defraud her insurer, AXA, through a fraudulent travel insurance claim worth more than £3,000.

The woman claimed that her luggage had gone missing and a pushchair had been damaged after a cruise from Barbados to Southampton in 2019.

AXA became suspicious of inconsistencies in her story, which led the insurer to further investigate the documents she had provided to corroborate her claims.

After contacting various retailers and a pushchair repair company, it was discovered that some of the documents had been edited by the woman, while others had been completely forged.

These enquiries also revealed that many of the items reported stolen were online purchases she had already been refunded for, after informing the retailers that they had not been delivered to her.

The case was referred by AXA to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) for investigation.

The woman was found guilty of fraud by false representation following a trial at City of London Magistrates Court.

She was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months; a 25-day rehabilitation order; a 23-day electronically-tagged curfew with the requirement to remain at her home address between 8pm and 6am; and to pay £828 in costs.

Detective Sergeant Philip Corcoran, from IFED, said: “The outcome of this case should act as a deterrent for anyone considering exploiting their travel insurer for financial gain, particularly as Covid-19 restrictions on travel have mostly lifted and there are increased opportunities to travel abroad. This type of fraud is taken very seriously by industry and by the police, and will leave perpetrators with a criminal record.”

Mark Dugdale