Hotline for insurance fraud set up

The insurance industry has set up a hotline to encourage people to report suspicious insurance claims. The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) hopes people will ring the confidential phone line to inform on neighbours, friends and employees who they think may have made a fraudulent or exaggerated claim.

The industry body is embarking on a radio, print and outdoor advertising campaign to convince the public that insurance fraud is not a victimless crime.

Mr Ian Stuart, president of the IIF, said the industry was at an advanced stage of formalising procedures with the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation on the reporting and investigation of suspected fraudulent claims.

Mr Stuart called on the Government to put insurance fraud on an equal footing with perjury and made subject to the same penalties. A recent study in Britain showed that people who admitted insurance fraud put the crime on a par with stealing towels from hotel rooms.

The Law Society has also called for a change in the law to facilitate the criminal conviction of people making fraudulent claims. "People who bring fraudulent claims should go to jail," said Law Society president Ms Geraldine Clarke.

A spokesman suggested the creation of a specific offence of bringing or assisting in bringing a fraudulent claim. He also said evidence in personal injury cases should be sworn and subject to contempt and perjury penalties if later discovered to be false.

The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said the high cost of insurance was damaging competitiveness in the economy and putting jobs at risk. She described insurance costs in the Republic as "a national embarrassment".

Ms Harney said there was a long tradition in Ireland of not being an informer but that ringing the fraud line to report suspect claims should be seen as an "act of patriotism".

She added that tackling insurance fraud was a key element of the Government's action plan for reform of the industry, which was launched late last year.

The IIF estimates that insurance fraud will cost €100 million in 2003 and add an average of 2 per cent to the cost of premiums.

These figures, based on European research, were "speculative to some extent", Mr Michael Kemp, chief executive of the IIF, admitted.