Insurers often face criticism for using non-disclosure as a scapegoat in order to avoid payouts, but they have also said consumers need to take their share of the blame.
Following a survey commissioned by Norwich Union, the UK insurer said that up to 10% of all insurance claims are thought to be false, which represents a cost of more than £1.6 billion a year.
The research also showed that 75% of British adults believe that dishonesty is rife in today's society, and 46% believe the UK has seen a significant shift in attitudes over the past decade.
Dominic Clayden, director of claims at Norwich Union, said that as much as 60% of all insurance fraud is committed by those who are motivated by a belief that everyone else is at it. But he also said that another reason for fraud was that people were concerned they would not be paid the full value by their insurer.
‘These concerns are in fact entirely misplaced, our priority is to pay genuine claims in full, as quickly as possible,’ Clayden said.
Last year Norwich Union identified and denied 20,000 claims that it deemed were fraudulent, worth approximately £150 million.
Clayden said: ‘Not many people realise that if any part of their claim can be shown to be fraudulent, then the whole claim is potentially invalidated and you risk not receiving any payment at all.
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