There is a tendancy for many people to see the fraud as a victimless crime, an upcoming ITV show reveals.
Many Britons do not see insurance fraud as a particularly serious offence, an investigation by ITV has suggested.
A poll conducted for an upcoming programme from the network, entitled Fiddles, Cheats & Scams, shows that just 23 percent of people would report an insurance scam to police if they found out about one. Moreover, 14 percent also said that they found it "acceptable" for themselves to provide false details while making a claim.
Over half (56 percent) said that they could "understand" why claims might be exaggerated, while a further 22 percent claimed to have "sympathy" for such fraudsters, the Press Association reports.
Speaking to the programme's makers, fraud risk manager at Axa Richard Davies commented: "Businesses are finding it tough at the moment with increased interest rates and an inability to actually service their loans. Arson is one of the ways in which they will try and get out of the problem simply by burning the business down - and hoping that the insurance company is going to pick up the bill."
I'm A Celebrity star Lord Charles Brocket, who went to prison for insurance fraud in 1996, added: "There's a sort of mentality that insurance companies are fair game. I guess they look at the profits of the companies, like the profits of the banks, and think, God, it's in billions or whatever."
"So if I have a little bit, it's not going to make any difference to them. It's not like mugging an old lady or holding up a bank which is obviously quite different. So yes, there is a different attitude towards insurance companies."
