Insurance Scams Put Pets at Risk

Pet insurance. It's designed to protect some of our best loved assets.

However, according to figures released by the Association of British Insurers the fastest-growing insurance crime is now pet insurance fraud.

Last year saw a 400 per cent increase with a cost of nearly £2million in fraudulent claims.

Often claimants will invent pets, exploiting insurers’ almost impossible task of identifying genuine owners. However, in some more distressing cases owners are reported to have deliberately harmed their pets to make a claim.

Jill Allen, a Lincolnshire dog breeder, was jailed for 18 months after freezing some of her puppies and defrosting them systematically to claim £200-£500 each.

With false claims likely to rise as pet insurance becomes more popular, it will seem that insurers will be forced to more closely monitor ownership and care to combat criminals.

Further Reading

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067907/Owners-maim-pets-insurance-The-audacious-cruel-practice-fastest-growing-fraud-Britain.html

Photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23am/3817281628/sizes/s/in/photostream/