A Penarth man has admitted to making a bogus compensation claim using images of a wound downloaded from the internet to try and convince his insurer he had suffered a serious cut. The 28-year-old man was arrested by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), which is part of the City of London Police, and later cautioned for committing fraud by false representation.
The fraudster had told his insurer he had suffered a serious injury at a DW Sports & Fitness gym, submitting the online images to support his £500 claim. In reality it was a paper cut that only required treatment with a small plaster.
After reviewing the details the insurer referred the case on to IFED for investigation, and soon after detectives travelled to south Wales to make the arrest.
Dave Whelan, owner of DW Sports & Fitness and chairman of Wigan FC said: “As a company we are shocked at the levels this man has sunk to in using another person’s injury to make an insurance claim.”
Head of IFED, DCI Dave Wood, said after the case: “IFED is sending out a clear message that insurance fraud in all its forms will not be tolerated, wherever it has been committed.
“There is still a public perception that making bogus claims to insurance companies about accidents, ill-health or stolen property is somehow acceptable. IFED making arrests South Wales is evidence of how committed we are to changing this culture.”
IFED was set up with funding from the insurance industry to combat an area of criminality valued at £3 billion a year, working out at £50 per policy holder.
Since its January-launch detectives have made a series of arrests across the UK, targeting organised, and opportunistic, fraudsters who are submitting bogus claims.
