GPs see rise in fake injury claims

13/01/12

By Sarah Tawton

The number of people trying to make false personal injury claims has soared in the last two years, new research suggests.

Almost two thirds of GPs said they had seen an increase in the number of patients attempting to make bogus insurance claims for car accident injuries.

More than half said they had been contacted in the last year by claims companies wanting to buy patient details - and a fifth said they were contacted by these firms on a weekly basis.

A staggering 87 per cent of doctors said they had been visited by a patient who was making up an injury - and almost all said they had seen someone they thought was exaggerating one.

Meanwhile, another survey of more than 2,000 members of the public found that more than half had been contacted out of the blue in the last year by a company telling them they might be able to make a claim regardless of whether or not they had been involved in an accident.

John O'Roarke, managing director of LV= car insurance, which carried out the surveys, said: "Attempted fraudulent personal injury claims waste time and money.

"GPs have increasingly large workloads and should not have to deal with fraudsters attempting to make a fast buck at the expense of law-abiding motorists."