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 £58 million (on average £45,242 a scam)1.
Romance scams
Romance scams increased by 30% in 20222, driven by the rise in online dating.
Fraudulent payments
Fraudulent payments via Authorised Push Payment (APP) originating through an online platform, such as fake websites or social media, increased by 77% in the first half of 2023, and 45% began through scam phone calls and texts3.
Social media
Among people who encountered fraudulent activity online, 23% first saw the fraud on social media4.
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 units5.
Fake websites and claims fraud
As we move into a more digital world, fraudsters are now targeting people looking to make a claim with their insurance company through online search. They impersonate legitimate companies and entice customers to contact them rather than their real insurer. This means that customers don’t deal with their insurance company directly, and they won’t get the service they expect. It may even lead to them being harassed by the scammers too.
These scams can be convincing, with similar web addresses and website branding to the insurer they’re impersonating. We have a checklist of what you should look out for to spot a scammer on our Help Hub.
If you’re not sure you’re dealing with AXA – or your own insurance company, if you have a policy with someone else – stop all communication with the company and contact your insurer directly.
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
Steps you can take to protect yourself and keep your personal data safe:
This list is not exhaustive. We encourage anyone who receives any communication (phone/email/message/Whatsapp/social media/mail) in relation to any fraudulent scheme to report them directly to the FCA and Action Fraud using the links below:
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.
Footnotes
1 "Impersonation scams almost double in first half of 2020 as criminals exploit COVID-19 to target victims" press release by UK Finance
2 "Criminals turn to romance scams as reports soar by 30%" press release by Lloyds Bank, published 7 February 2023
3 2023 half-year fraud update by UK Finance
4 "Scale and impact of online fraud revealed" press release by Ofcom, published 16 March 2023
5 "One year since lockdown: Fighting fraud during the pandemic" press release by City of London Police, published 24 March 2021