IFED campaign and crackdown on travel insurance fraud yields seven arrests

The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) has executed warrants as part of a crackdown on travel insurance fraud, resulting in seven arrests.

The arrests follow an IFED awareness campaign run at the start of the summer holidays that urged the general public to check their insurance status before travelling abroad. The campaign also reminded the public that exploiting a travel insurance policy to make bogus claims is a criminal offence.

Over the past five years, IFED has received 57 referrals for travel insurance fraud at a total estimated value of £2,393,680.51.

During the pandemic, IFED also saw cases of individuals taking advantage of COVID-19 travel restrictions by submitting claims for cancelled flights and holidays that did not actually exist. As foreign travel resumes, the unit expects that criminals will refocus their attention on making claims for bogus incidents while on holiday.

IFED’s recent enforcement efforts aimed to tackle this issue before it grows. Officers were deployed across operations in Hampshire, Surrey, London, Sheffield and Liverpool, resulting in the arrests of two women and five men.

Officers also conducted 12 interviews in connection with these investigations.

Mark Allen, chief fraud and financial crime officer at the Association of British Insurers, said: “The insurance industry remains totally committed to exposing insurance cheats, as the impact of insurance fraud ends up being paid for by all honest policyholders. Travel insurance plays a vital role in protecting people when they travel abroad, but not to line the pockets of fraudsters. This latest crackdown by the IFED further highlights that there is no hiding place for the dishonest.”

Image source: Canva

Mark Dugdale