UK and Ireland insurance fraud trends, October 2026: fewer detected cases, higher values

Motor still accounts for most detected cases, at a higher average value

Motor insurance accounted for 55% of all detected fraudulent claims in 2025: 51,900 cases, with a total value of £625 million (adverse for insurers) [1]. The ABI says that points to fewer, more costly motor cases. The average value of a detected motor fraud claim rose to £12,000 (adverse for insurers), the second-highest level since 2015 [1].

Property insurance followed the same pattern. Detected fraudulent property claims fell 6.2% (favorable for insurers) to 17,700 (favorable for insurers), while their total value rose 3.4% (adverse for insurers) to £201 million (adverse for insurers). The average value reached a record £11,400 (adverse for insurers) [1]. Travel was the sharpest volume increase: detected cases rose 85% (adverse for insurers) to 4,500 (adverse for insurers), while value rose 16% (adverse for insurers) to £8.6 million (adverse for insurers) [1].

The mix matters for claims operations. A falling case count with a rising average is not a lighter workload if the remaining cases are larger, more organised or harder to unwind once they are paid.

How the fraud was attempted

Exaggerated loss remained the most common type, with 26,900 cases [1]. That is a claim that was inflated, not a statement about legitimate claims. Contrived incident and loss fraud saw the largest increase, up 30% (adverse for insurers) to about 5,600 (adverse for insurers) cases [1]. The ABI describes those as cases where an incident, loss or set of circumstances was deliberately created or staged in order to make a claim [1].

Insurers also prevented fraudulent insurance applications worth £1.8 billion (favorable for insurers) [1]. Application fraud is the deliberate misrepresentation or withholding of information in order to obtain cover or reduce premiums. Detected application-fraud cases rose 24% (adverse for insurers) year on year [1]. That is an underwriting and onboarding problem as much as a claims problem, and it is a separate total from the £1.34 billion of detected claims.

The ABI release includes comments from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department at the City of London Police and from the Insurance Fraud Bureau, and it notes the IFB's CheatLine as a confidential reporting route [1]. This piece does not add unofficial estimates on top of those official public figures.

Ireland: no comparable 2026 official public total in this edition

This edition does not publish an Irish detected-fraud total for 2025 or 2026, because we did not find a 2026 official public series from An Garda Síochána, Insurance Ireland or the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland that could be placed next to the ABI figures with the same definitions. That is a gap in the public data, not a finding that Ireland has no fraud problem. Where Irish carriers share official public updates, they can be added in a later edition.

The UK figures also do not include a Northern Ireland cut. The ABI series is a UK industry total.

What this means for underwriting and claims

Underwriting. The 24% (adverse for insurers) rise in detected application-fraud cases, and the £1.8 billion (favorable for insurers) of applications prevented, is the part of the October release that sits before a policy is even in force [1]. Identity, previous claims and vehicle details that cannot be checked at quote will show up later as claims leakage.

Claims. Motor still dominates the detected-case count, but the severity of those cases is what rose. Contrived incidents, up 30% (adverse for insurers), and higher-value motor and property cases are the patterns to send to experienced handlers early, not a broader suspicion applied to ordinary claims [1]. Public reporting routes exist for third-party intelligence. They are not a substitute for file-level evidence.